Neko Case
Blacklisted
On Sale Now
For $11.19

Alt-country chanteuse Neko Case may just be the hardest working woman in show biz these days. Over the last couple of years she’s released her acclaimed second solo record Furnace Room Lullaby, recorded and toured with Canadian new wave pop combo New Pornographers, done a few dates with her country duo the Corn Sisters, and even opened a series of dates for goth icon Nick Cave. Now, she’s finally gotten around to following up Lullaby with a new collection that showcases her force of nature voice.

Case surrounds herself with a few new collaborators (Calexico’s John Convertino and Joey Burns, Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb) and a few old friends (Dallas Good of the Sadies, Kelly Hogan, Jon Rauhouse, ex-Bottle Rocket Tom Ray). Together they create a record that is remarkably consistent in tone, sound and atmosphere. It’s a gauzy, neo-noir approximation of the classic country sounds of artists like Patsy Cline.

That consistency isn’t always a good thing however. After a few hypnotic, haunting tales of stalkers and plane crashes, you may long for a few peppier tempos or at least a lightening of the mood. The track “Stinging Velvet” does get up to a light gallop and Good’s twangy guitars and Rauhouse’s pedal steel make it an album highlight. But a dose of New Pornographers’ twinkie pop charm would be a welcome (if unexpected) thing and might better showcase the variety of styles Case is clearly capable of mastering.

Still, Case’s voice is a wonder throughout the record, cutting through even the densest atmosphere. She sounds great wallowing in reverb on tracks like “Lady Pilot.” But the power of her pipes doesn’t prevent her from connecting emotionally either. On “Tightly” she sings “Don’t you try and stop me / I cling tightly to this life.” Or as she puts it on the beautiful pedal steel and accordion inflected “Wish I Was the Moon” (another album highlight): “How will you know if you’ve found me at last? / ‘Cause I'll be the one with my heart in my lap.”

Elsewhere, Case sings of being “haunted by American dreams” on the opening “Things That Scare Me.” Rauhouse’s loping banjo sets the mood on this gothic bluegrass murder ballad. “The hammer clicks in place / The world is gonna pay,” Case sings.

In addition to eleven Case originals, Blacklisted also features two covers. “Runnin’ Out of Fools” was once recorded by Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin. And Ketty Lester and Sarah Vaughan both performed “Look For Me (I’ll Be Around).” Case’s version of the latter sounds like it would make a great addition to a David Lynch movie soundtrack with some twangy surf guitar and dreamy vibes.

More Lynch-ian creepiness can be heard on the record’s title track, which has nothing to do with Joe McCarthy. It’s an ode to a train. And Case twists folk and country conventions with unusual melodies on tracks like “Deep Red Bells” and the brief, ghostly “Outro With Bees.” That song also appears as a hidden track in the form of an old time radio song barely tuned in.

Case considers herself something of a vagabond. Born in Virginia, she has also made her home in Tacoma, Washington, Vancouver, and these days Chicago. Of course the life of the itinerant musician and hopscotch-ing between musical projects have kept her un-tethered as well. On Blacklisted she takes us along on her journey through an America that seems of our past but that never really existed. It’s an intriguing place to visit, if only for forty minutes or so.

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