Future daze

Neko Case, Black Listed & Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Sometimes I get a thing for a singer purely because of her voice. A long time ago I had a special feeling for The Clouds’ Trish/Tricia Young, who I thought just kinkyplum as backing vocalist and occasional lead singer. Something in the character of her voice had me hallucinatin’ lazy eyes and husky cool and low-slung basses and groove smarts and flannel. Neko Case kicks up the same boyish reaction of Oh I Like You, Will She Like Me? Her timbre is rich and throaty, extremely strong in the high range and confidently ringing in any key. She’s so much more than the generic alt.country tag can hedge and fence her in. The independence and woman’s smarts of country, the poetic naturalness of confident songwriting, a sexy intelligence and sharp, redheaded good looks. Canadian blood. Hard-working tourbus (actually, a tourvan called the Beaver) attitude and self-made woman pith. But above all, that clear-open voice ringing out with full reverb. Sometimes country-sounding (vis early Maria McKee) and sometimes mixed with a radio-friendly 50s bandstand/pop sound and sometimes just cool and smokey, in love with old record players and dusty guitars and smart girls in skirts or overalls and childhood popsicles. It’s a rich timbre to my ears at least. My thanks to the lads at 3hive for pointing me her way. Here’s to clear and bold voices.