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Critic's Review
Mark Deming, All Music Guide
Neko Case hasn't had much need to prove her credentials as a major artist since making her solo debut with 1997's The Virginian, but she's been refining her skills in the recording studio on each subsequent release, and with 2006's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood she's fashioned an album that can cautiously be called a masterpiece. As always, Case's voice, an instrument of impressive strength, grace, and expressive power, is the star of this show, and she's never sounded better than she does here, but what sets this apart from her other fine work is her growth as a songwriter and producer. Case wrote or co-wrote all 12 tracks on Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, and her tales of failed friendship, faith stretched to the breaking point, and love that causes as much ache as comfort are subtle and expressionistic but deeply evocative, conjuring images and feelings that linger long after the album has ended, especially the spectral "Star Witness," the moody yet romantic "That Teenage Feeling" and "Hold on, Hold On," and the darkly beautiful closer, "The Needle Has Landed." And Case and her co-producer, Darryl Neudorf, have assembled a superb cast of musicians to accompany these songs, among them members of the Sadies and Calexico as well as Garth Hudson of the Band, Howe Gelb from Giant Sand, and Kelly Hogan. Together they've sculpted a dozen elegant sonic landscapes that are beautiful and richly detailed while meshing with the moody textures of the songs in their open space and unwillingness to crowd either the singer or the other players. The cumulative effect mirrors both the beauty and the sadness that lurks within the human heart, and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is a rich, mature, and deeply satisfying piece of music that deserves and demands attention -- if this isn't Album of the Year material, it's hard to say what is.
Critic Blurbs
"The lofty, reverb-laden vocals of this redheaded stranger harness all the intangible energy, whim and wonder of post-equinox days past, present and future with shocking clarity on her fourth studio release."
Jun 7, 2006
"while it all sounds a little dramatic in scope, there's actually a lot of simplicity in these tracks, which is their biggest asset. Without letting the atmospherics take over, Case floats to the top."
- Noah Love | Mar 15, 2006
"If not as melodically ingratiating (read: catchy) as Blacklisted, it finds Case with increasingly subtle vocal control and a heavier heart."
Mar 14, 2006
"For years, alt-country siren Neko Case has been able to shiver our timbers with her otherworldly voice. Now, she's found a way to do it with her songwriting."
- Darryl Sterdan | Mar 10, 2006
"...a conviction that demands attention, wrapping it in lush, atmospheric music and keeping its secrets for herself."
- Keith Phipps | Mar 9, 2006
"...nobody today does eerie dust-bowl balladry and anachronistic rustic-murder milieu quite like Case."
- Ryan Dombal | Mar 7, 2006
"At times Case sounds as though she's singing in a well, which is bad, because with a sultry voice that can make knees buckle and spines shiver, she requires no such studio trickery."
Mar 6, 2006
"While she might not be the most prolific artist, taking such a long time to follow up a 40-minute CD with a 35-minute disc, with albums as consistently spellbinding as Case’s, we’ll remain entranced, anxiously awaiting the next opportunity to hear that voice one more time."
- Adrien Begrand | Mar 6, 2006
"Her fourth effort is arguably her most engrossing, and it certainly features some of her more peculiar arrangements."
- Todd Martens | Mar 6, 2006
