''Fox Confessor Brings the Flood'' is the fourth solo album by American alt-country musician
Neko Case
Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cr ...
, released March 7, 2006 by
ANTI- Records. The album was found on many “Best of” lists that year and had a bonus disc released by ANTI- in November of the following year.
Recording and production
The album was recorded at Wave Lab Studios in Tucson, Arizona except the beginning of "John Saw That Number", recorded in a stairwell at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern; and "At Last", which was tracked at Toronto's Iguana studio. Case is backed by several collaborators, including bandmates Jon Rauhouse and Tom V. Ray, as well as frequent collaborators
The Sadies
The Sadies are a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Dallas Good, Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. Dallas and Travis are the sons of Margaret and Bruce Good, and nephews of Bria ...
,
Giant Sand
Giant Sand is an American musical group from Tucson, Arizona, United States. Its most constant member is singer-songwriter Howe Gelb. The group started as Giant Sandworms in the late 1970s post-punk and paisley underground scenes. They later s ...
's leader
Howe Gelb
Howe Gelb (born October 22, 1956, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer based in Tucson, Arizona.
Projects
Gelb's approach to music is collaborative and he has recorded with a number of s ...
, vocalist
Kelly Hogan
Kelly Hogan (born January 11, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, often known for her work as a member of Neko Case's backing band, as well as for her solo work.
Early and personal life
Hogan was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of ...
,
Calexico
Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Diego ...
's Joey Burns and John Convertino, and Canadian cohorts Brian Connelly and Paul Rigby. Rachel Flotard of Seattle
punk-pop
Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...
combo
Visqueen also guests, as does multi-instrumentalist
Garth Hudson
Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...
of
The Band. The album was engineered by Craig Schumacher and Chris Schultz, and produced and mixed by Neko Case and Darryl Neudorf. It sold 194,000 copies in the United States through December 2008. ''Fox Confessor Brings the Flood'' (Bonus Disc Version) was released November 6, 2007, which includes five additional songs. The original track listing was used for the Record Store Day 2015 re-release on red colored vinyl.
''Fox Confessor Brings the Flood'' was produced by Darryl Neudorf and co-produced by Case. Neudorf helped mix, produce and engineer other Case albums including ''
The Virginian'' (1997), ''
Furnace Room Lullaby'' (2000), ''
Blacklisted'' (2002), ''
The Tigers Have Spoken'' (2005), ''Fox Confessor Brings the Flood'' (Bonus Disc Version) (2007) and ''
Middle Cyclone'' (2009). He helped produce and engineer for other artists such as
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan OC OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is '' Surfacing'', for which she won two Grammy Awards (ou ...
, The Sadies and
The Mohawk Lodge.
Regarding a cover of "Star Witness" by Canadian students Kate Macdonald and Janelle Blanchard, Case wrote via Twitter "Wow. That just made me bawl my eyes out. What beautiful singers. I'm not worthy...Holy god. They broke the shit out of my heart!!"
Musical style, writing, and composition
Upon its release, ''Fox Confessor'' was praised as Case’s most stunning album. The album covers a wide range of emotions in a variety of styles. Case blends gospel and early rock influences, and Case classified her style as “country-noir”.
Much of the album is praised for masterful weaving of emotion and suggestive description. Case offers that the songs on this album were created by writing a lot of words and paring them back so that it is not “overly literal”. She gives hints and helps her listeners to use their imagination to fill in the gaps. “That Teenage Feeling” is praised as a 1950s-style pop ballad that suggests a memory of intense and passionate love,
while “Hold On, Hold On” tells the story of the artist leaving a wedding reception, relieved to be alone, with drugs from the bride. In “John Saw That Number”, Case mixes words of “an old American spiritual with a musical idea from India”
and “Widow’s Toast” is an example of the artist creating “more space on the record” in order to make what is there stand out. Case began recording the track with a full band, but the removed all components for the final product.
This track also deviates from the standard verse-chorus-verse structure of many contemporary songs.
Inspiration
Most of the songs in this album are based on her life experiences. Case said on one of her interviews "I've always been fascinated by fairy tales, But we really don't have fairy tales anymore. Movies have taken their place, and modern fiction seems to be in this rut of the coming-of-age story, which is getting really boring. I'm trying to find things on the outer limits of experience. I really love the Eastern European fairy tales because they're not only dark but they're also funny and not overly moral."
Reception and legacy
Upon release, ''Fox Confessor'' was greeted with universal acclaim from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
. Awarding it 4-and-a-half stars,
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
's Mark Deming lauded it as "rich, mature, and deeply satisfying".
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
''s Marc Weingarten praised the "beguiling spell" Case's "death-haunted
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fo ...
".
Ryan Dombal of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' applauded the "natural grandeur" of Case's "peerless cries".
In 2013, ''Treble'' dubbed ''Fox'' "
ase'smost haunting, lonely and dazzling work to date." They placed the album on their list of
alt-country
Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...
's essential records, praising its songs as "magnificent".
The site also recognized ''Fox''s third track "Hold On, Hold On" in the genre's history, dubbing it "a haunted surf-twang barnburner". Looking back on ''Fox'' for its 10th anniversary, ''
Billboard''s Kenneth Partridge named it "an
indie-rock
Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produce ...
landmark" and "an album of ugly truths beautifully rendered."
Accolades
Track listing
All songs written by Neko Case, except where noted.
#"Margaret vs. Pauline" – 2:52
#"Star Witness" – 5:16
#"Hold On, Hold On" (Case,
The Sadies
The Sadies are a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Dallas Good, Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. Dallas and Travis are the sons of Margaret and Bruce Good, and nephews of Bria ...
) – 2:46
#"A Widow's Toast" – 1:36
#"That Teenage Feeling" – 2:42
#"Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" (Case, Paul Rigby) – 2:42
#"John Saw That Number" (traditional, Case) – 4:06
#"Dirty Knife" – 3:18
#"Lion's Jaws" (Case, The Sadies) – 2:28
#"Maybe Sparrow" – 2:37
#"At Last" – 1:35
#"The Needle Has Landed" (Case, The Sadies) – 3:45
Personnel
*
Neko Case
Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cr ...
– vocals, acoustic & electric tenor guitars, acoustic & electric guitars, tambourine, whirly bird, piano, hammered dulcimer
*
Garth Hudson
Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...
– piano, organ
*
Mike Belitsky – drums
*Paul Rigby – electric guitar, 12-string electric guitar, guitar loop
*
Joey Burns – acoustic guitar, upright bass, cello, nylon acoustic guitar
*
John Convertino
Calexico is a Tucson, Arizona-based Americana, Tex-Mex, indie rock band. The band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number of albums on Q ...
– drums
*
Anne de Wolff – violin
*
Tom V. Ray
Tom V. Ray is an American bassist living in Chicago. He was born in 1965, and grew up on a farm in Vincennes, Indiana.
Ray’s professional musical career began in 1983, when he began performing with local bluegrass, country and classic rock co ...
– upright bass, bass
*
Travis Good – acoustic & electric guitars
*
Kelly Hogan
Kelly Hogan (born January 11, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, often known for her work as a member of Neko Case's backing band, as well as for her solo work.
Early and personal life
Hogan was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of ...
– vocals
*
Dallas Good – electric & 12-string guitars
*
Sean Dean – upright bass
*
Rachel Flotard – backing vocals
*
Dexter Romweber
John Michael Dexter "Dex" Romweber (born June 18, 1966) is an American rockabilly/roots rock musician (primarily playing electric guitar) from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dex is best known as one-half of the seminal two-piece Flat Duo Jets. He f ...
– electric guitar
*
Howe Gelb
Howe Gelb (born October 22, 1956, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer based in Tucson, Arizona.
Projects
Gelb's approach to music is collaborative and he has recorded with a number of s ...
– electric guitar, piano
*Willie B – drums
*James SK Wān - viola
*Jon Rauhouse – banjo, Hawaiian guitar
*Brian Connelly – acoustic guitar
*
Julie Morstad
Julie Morstad is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books.
Career
After coming to the attention of Simply Read Books publisher Dimiter Savoff through her work in the Vancouver arts scene, Morstad was asked to illustrate Sara O'Lear ...
– artwork
Charts
As of 2013, sales in the United States have exceeded 233,000 copies, according to
Nielsen SoundScan.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
2006 albums
Neko Case albums
Anti- (record label) albums
Albums produced by Darryl Neudorf