Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

iTunes Review

In the last decade, Neko Case has emerged as one of alt-country’s most prominent stars. Her sultry vocal delivery has drawn comparisons to Patsy Cline and her friendships with fellow musicians — the Sadies, Giant Sand, and Kelly Hogan, who join her here — and her involvement in the critically acclaimed New Pornographers have made her a noted commodity among learned music fans. She’s a master of pathos, able to conjure up ominous strains of melancholy (“Star Witness”) or simply that lost sense of childhood wonder (“Hold On, Hold On,” “That Teenage Feeling”) with a quick, exultant turn of phrase. With producer Darryl Neudorf, she judiciously arranges these songs for maximum effect, sweetening with a smooth harmony here and a cranky electric guitar over there. The effect, though carefully thought through, is never slick. Instead, there is a mystical spiritualism that underpins even her most playful moments and makes the quick hymn “A Widow’s Toast” all the more haunting with its deep cathedral echo and the gospel-inflected “John Saw a Number” a timeless tune for the ages.