Neko Case

In the ethereal realm of musical expression, Neko Case stands as a luminary, cutting through the vast expanse of the sky and singing with the celestial stars. A force of nature, she weaves tales of fury and mercy, her heart worn openly on her sleeve, though she might devour it before you can claim it as your own.

Entering the woods of a Neko Case song is like being lured into a wild creature’s lair, where the wilderness begins to envelop the entire world. Suddenly, the familiar terrain of your previous home, visible in the distance, loses its allure compared to the captivating landscape you now find yourself within.

“Wild Creatures” is a compilation that encapsulates the feral joy scattered across 21 years of Neko Case’s solo journey. From her debut in 1997 with “The Virginian” to the darkness of “Furnace Room Lullaby” in 2000, the profound “Blacklisted” in 2004, and the live exuberance of “The Tigers Have Spoken” the same year—her discography is a rich tapestry of sonic exploration. Dreaming of “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” in 2006 and raising hell with “Hell-On” in 2018, Case is in her third decade of recording, and as the saying goes, she’s just getting started.

Neko Case is a songwriter without boundaries, fearlessly and inventively bending decades of pop music into new forms. Her voice is a potent instrument, delivering notes like kisses and wielding metaphors like a baseball bat. She has traversed cities from Seattle and Vancouver to Chicago and Stockholm, establishing her creative haven on a farm in New England.

With each passing year, Case’s power grows, singing with the unbridled intensity of a newborn in the woods. Escaping the confinements of country and Americana, her early train-whistle vocals persist in her later work, surfacing like elusive apparitions. Her lyrics paint vivid worlds, exploring perspectives ranging from longing to malice, collaborating with artists like the New Pornographers and Calexico.

Neko Case lives to reshape the melodies she conjures, daring listeners to follow her music down unexpected paths. Her songs defy conventional structures, with verse-chorus-verse occasionally giving way to unforeseen directions. Her compositions often mirror symphonies, transitioning seamlessly between ballads, waltz, and rock, creating a musical explosion akin to an improvised explosive device.

In the ever-expanding universe of Neko Case, there seems to be no limit to the perspectives she can inhabit or the stories she can tell through her enchanting and boundary-pushing music.