[review 2006: the honourable mentions]

When I first heard this album, performed live at a small back room in Toronto this past January, I could already tell where Neko Case was headed—further from the honky-tonk of her early albums, down the road she blazed when she unleashed Blacklisted in 2002. But if Blacklisted’s best tracks recalled the deep, dark night, then Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is the cold morning after. The difference in atmosphere is subtle but tangible nonetheless, but thankfully Fox Confessor is just as good an album as its predecessor, even if the emotional thrust is different this time around.

I don’t know where exactly I got this idea from, but several tracks on Fox Confessor evoke images of bare trees and icy rushing rivers with snow-covered banks. There’s a frigid air throughout the album; the sound is crisper, the passion muted, the lyrics less direct. Whereas Blacklisted had genuine moments of drama (”Pretty Girls” and the title track) and longing (”Tightly” and “I Wish I Was the Moon”), Fox Confessor is less of an emotional rollercoaster ride. When Case does approach those previous heights, as on “Hold On, Hold On,” there’s still an element of distance not present on previous albums.

But to appreciate Fox Confessor is to understand that Case no longer seems to be working with quite the same template. The late-night confessional lyrics of songs like “Tightly” are gone; in their place are beautifully told stories with Case as narrator, not protagonist. As I’ve never been one to focus very much on lyrics except the most obvious, I’m not the person to do the deconstruction; I’ll leave that to people like the fine folks at cokemachineglow. In any case, the same thinking carries over to the production and arrangements, carefully crafted to create more subtle and complex effects than any of Case’s prior albums, but also less forceful and direct.

The unfortunate part is that the added complexity and distance makes Fox Confessor Brings the Flood a less immediate listen, and so even though certain songs grab you and never quite let go (”Star Witness,” “That Teenage Feeling” and “Maybe Sparrow” are some of my favourites), it’s harder for me to figure out how it all comes together as an album. So right now this is not an album I love, but more one whose charms I can appreciate. I can imagine myself turning the corner one day—but not just yet.