Neko Case has always had a strong voice and a knack for giving gritty stories an ethereal bent. On “Blacklisted”, her third album, she handled more song writing on her own and put a finer point on both her narratives and her presence as a performer. Her persona and her music remained dark, mysterious, and a little distant with her voice wrapped in reverb as if she were calling out from a vast, empty space. If Tom Waits is the drunken dreamer caught in the gutter, Case is the woman who put him there. And unlike some of her contemporaries, she never gave up on twang as she developed her own voice. It’s hard to argue that songs like “I Missed the Point” and “Runnin’ Out of Fools” aren’t firmly rooted in Patsy Cline country. Still, Case added a few refinements to her arrangements—the nod to bluegrass on “Things That Scare Me,” the subtle rhythmic shifts in “Deep Red Bells.” And her lyrics—like the chorus of “I Wish I Was the Moon” and the imagery of “Deep Red Bells”—are as beautiful as they are provocative.
While the spare and often haunted sound of Neko Case’s home-recorded “Canadian Amp” EP seemed at the time like a late-night detour from alt-country’s leading songbird of the North, listening to Case’s first full-length album following “Canadian Amp” suggests it may have been the first step along a new and different path for her. “Blacklisted” is a considerably darker and more understated affair, its sometimes stark, sometimes elegant 3 a.m. sound as the country & western-slanted melodies of her first two solo albums. Which isn’t to say “Blacklisted” is a total departure for Neko Case; her big, bold, but silky smooth voice is still a thing of beauty, and if anything, she’s still learning more remarkable things she can do with it, with the result being some of her finest and most insightful performances to date. it’s hard to say if hanging out with Nick Cave on tour had much of an influence on her, but this disc sounds a bit like Case’s version of The Boatman’s Call, a personal exploration of the heart and soul that proves sad and beautiful can often walk hand in hand. Highly recommended.
Originally released August 20th, 2002
The Fat Angel Sings 