The voice hits first.
Neko Case possesses one of those voices that refuses to be buried by, say, a shitty sound mix, by the noise drifting over from a distant festival stage, by the joyful racket created, purposefully, next to her on stage by her bandmates.
Her fiery red mane might draw your attention, but it's the clarion call emanating from Case's throat that draws a listener in and holds them. Especially in the rock and country realms, there aren't a huge number of voices that can stop you dead in your tracks. Emmylou Harris, Patsy Cline, maybe Annie Lennox. Case has one of those kinds of voices. Timeless.
She'd likely quickly dismiss such comparisons. When she released her 2018 album Hell-On, she talked about her songwriting in confident terms ("They are my best self," she said of the tunes). In the very next breath — and this was in her own press release to promote the album — she dissected and derided her vocal chops.
"I don't have a pretty voice or a trained voice," Case said, "and I am constantly disappointed that I don't have a 'tough' voice, no matter how hard I practice, but it's mine, and for all its loud, heavy-handed, nasal, vibrato-less qualities, I accept it."
Yes, the lady doth protest too much. But certainly her artistry goes far beyond simply her vocal instrument. That's evident on Wild Creatures, the new digital-only 23-song compilation spanning Case's 25 years as a recording artist, and will be evident as well when she headlines the Bing Crosby Theater Saturday, June 18. Masks will be required for attendees by Case's request, a result of her catching COVID on tour last fall.
The first time I saw Case perform in concert, she was singing as part of the New Pornographers as the then-unknown power-pop crew played an industry showcase at the South by Southwest music conference.
The band made a great first impression that March night in Texas in 2001, and Case's distinct vocals certainly stood out, whether harmonizing alongside fellow Pornographers Dan Bejar and Carl Newman or taking lead vocals on songs from the band's debut album, Mass Romantic. When the group came through my town a few months later and played a sports bar for some inexplicable reason, I planted myself right in front of Case's spot on stage.
FIVE NEKO CASE SONGS TO KNOW AND LOVE
• I Wish I Was The Moon• The Tigers Have Spoken
• A Widow's Toast
• Wild Creatures
• This Tornado Loves You
That night I became a fan for life — and that was before I'd experienced Case's own songwriting and work as a solo artist. To that point she'd only released two albums, The Virginian and Furnace Room Lullaby, and both were attributed to Neko Case and Her Boyfriends. Those "boyfriends" were a rotating cast of musician friends, but both those albums are clearly Case projects, mixing her original songwriting with a few well-chosen covers (Queen's "Misfire" on The Virginian is an unexpected delight) and creating a distinct sonic mood, one some started calling "country noir." No one loves being labeled, but that one fit pretty well early in Case's career.
With 2002's Blacklisted, Case ditched the boyfriends and started putting out records in her own name. At the same time, her sonic palette expanded slowly and steadily over the four albums she's released since, to the point where some songs on 2018's Hell-On incorporate horns, loops, harpsichords and drum machines.
The Wild Creatures compilation puts a new spotlight on Case's lyrics, as well as her constant sonic exploration. Through the years, some songs have evolved into expansive short stories about nature and mythical beasts, while she can still deliver an intimate song of heartbreak and woe. Occasionally, hope even creeps in! She has a poet's way with words, and Bob Dylan's caginess in never wanting to be too straightforward.
Much is left to the listener's interpretation in Case's songs, and isn't that what we want from our great artists? ♦
Neko Case, Gaby Moreno • Sat, June 18 at 8 pm • $40-$60 • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague • bingcrosbytheater.com • 509-227-7638
