Neko Case’s first album in seven years is out this week. Neon Grey Midnight Green was recorded live with a full band at Case’s own Vermont studio, Carnassial Sound, with additional sessions in Denver, Colorado with the PlainsSong Chamber Orchestra and in Portland, Oregon with Tucker Martine.
The album’s first single, “Wreck,” showcases Case’s knack for bending familiar song forms into surprising shapes. “Yeah, it’s kind of a multi-purpose love song,” she explained to Rhythms. “It’s about what love does to you, whether it’s about a person or your favorite band or how you feel seeing a person singing on stage your favorite song. How that love will push you outside your comfort zone into a kind of a place where you express yourself a lot more freely than you normally would, and you watch yourself doing it like you’re outside your body and you just say, ‘Well fuck it, I have no control over that.’”
Case’s playful streak is evident in the album cover, as she explains “I made a costume of my favorite tree, and that’s me wearing the costume, just without the hat part. There’s a tree in my front yard. It’s a Weeping Norwegian Spruce and I’m badly in love with that tree. And I just thought it would be funny to dress as my favorite tree on the cover”.
Neon Grey Midnight Green is available now from Anti Records and your local music retailer.