“When you’re writing something really personal, when you read it later, you’re like, ‘Did a 14-year-old creative writing student write that?” joked powerhouse singer and songwriter Neko Case to KUTX’s own Matt Reilly about writing from the heart. This week she stopped by the studio to play a few tunes in front of a packed Studio 1A audience, an audience she charmed the pants off of with her warmth, with and humility by the way.
Case began her career in the mid-90s playing in Pacific Northwest punk outfits like Maow. In 1997 she released her solo debut The Virginian. The following year, she added vocals to what would become the Mass Romantic, the first album from Vancouver outfit The New Pornographers, beginning a long and fruitful relationship with the band. Case’s own solo career began to take off in the aughts, and she released phenomenal records like 2006’s Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and 2009’s Middle Cyclone. Just last month she released her newest record The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, one of her most personal, nakedly honest albums to date.
She graced us with a few tunes off the new record during her Studio 1A session, including today’s song of the day “Local Girl.” Case’s voice soars in the space. The interplay between her and singer Kelly Hogan during the choruses is captivating. “All of you lie about something, You know you do, all of you, shame on you, all of you lie,” they sing sweetly, but there’s most definitely venom in that line. It’s also wonderfully vague. You get the feeling that Case had someone or some people very specifically in mind when she penned it, but it gives the listener the opportunity to insert their very own liars. In that way Case brings you in, and lets you glimpse at her own life as you glimpse at yours.
You can catch Neko Case at ACL Fest 2013:
Sun, Oct. 13, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. on the Austin Ventures Stage
