Neko Case's Fox Confessor Brings A Flood Of Praise

While Neko Case may still be best known to some people for her contributions to The New Pornographers, the chanteuse started her solo career well before that group released their debut album and she's been rightly hailed for having one of the purest voices to emerge from the independent music scene in the past 10 years.

So the release of Fox Confessor Brings The Flood, Case's first studio album since 2002's Blacklisted (a live release called The Tigers Have Spoken came out in the interim), is cause for a celebration for fans of country music. That's country, not alt.country, a label that's been constantly affixed to the fun-loving 35-year-old's music despite her dislike for it.

"I don't have any problem with country music or the sound of that, but that particular word is gross," says Case. "I don't know where it came from or how or why.

"It sounds really pussy, like people are trying to distance themselves from something. It's like their music isn't good enough or something. Frankly, I don't think musicians ever want to call themselves that. I don't know any musicians who ever thought that was a good idea. What's wrong with just calling it country? Obviously nobody's going to mistake this with Tim McGraw. It's not going to get played on the radio, so what do we have to worry about?"

Fox Confessor bridges influences from traditional country, gospel, pop, rock and, lyrically, Russian folk. While the chillingly beautiful voice has always been there, this fifth album shows Case's growth as a songwriter and features the first biographical number she's ever penned, "Hold On Hold On," as well as an adaptation of an old hymn called "John Saw That Number."

"The theme of the record is losing your faith or, also related to losing your faith would be the idea that the more you know, you realize that you actually know less," explains Case. "That's supposed to bring you great comfort if it's working correctly."

Case is also becoming a more experienced studio hand, as she shared production and mixing duties with Darryl Neudorf on the new disc. The basic tracks were recorded in Tucson, Arizona and the album was mixed in Toronto. While Case admits that she's never been asked to produce someone else, and that she doesn't have the time to do it at the moment even if she was, it's something that she'd consider doing somewhere down the road.

"I feel like more of a producer than I do a songwriter or a singer. It's the most intense part of the process. That's where I learn the most all the time. It's pretty riveting and endlessly fascinating."

Working in the studio was made more enjoyable since Case was accompanied by plenty of musical friends, including longtime bandmates Jon Rauhouse and Tom V. Ray, Kelly Hogan, Giant Sand leader Howe Gelb, Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino, former Flat Duo Jet Dexter Romweber, Visqueen's Rachel Flotard and a Canadian contingent comprised of Atomic 7's Brian Connelly, Paul Rigby and The Sadies. She was also thrilled to have The Band's Garth Hudson, a friend of Toronto producer Peter Moore, play on the record.

"Garth Hudson showed up in the studio and it was the funnest thing ever. He was such a generous, kind, funny, awesome person. He's the most badass musician I've ever met."

Case recently returned to North America after promoting Fox Confessor in Europe, and she should have made plenty of new fans with her March 9 performance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. She'll perform a show of her own and also join The New Pornographers at the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas this week before embarking on an 18-date North American tour that begins in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 29 and ends in Austin on April 18.

Here are the Canadian dates on Case's upcoming tour:
April 2 Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
April 4 Montreal, QC @ Club Soda