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The preamble could be her sensitivity in reinterpreting "The Boatman’s Call", right after being on tour in 1998 with Cave and the Bad Seeds.
But her country is not so sublimated, the blues not so ruthless.
"Boatman’s" is more essential, the compositions entrusted to the piano. Case surrounded by Howe Gelb, Joey Burns, and John Convertino (that is, Giant Sand and Calexico) paints a work rich in pathos, nocturnal and mysterious, with strong tones and contrasts. Case's writing finally emerges as sinister, as much as wandering and visionary. Dry lyrics. A cautious impulsiveness against instinctive, captivating, and yet elegant music. Refined compositions, though sparse. At times meditative. Arranged by her.
Then there's her voice, so natural, bold, and poignant, capable of a strong song, in extension and height, as well as elegiac sweetness, velvety when it softens the serious tones and eases the tension.
It’s no coincidence, and it’s not inappropriate, that she measures herself here with an Aretha Franklin standard, "Runnin’ Out Of Fools", which simply stuns, sends shivers down the spine, and tears the soul apart.
One might say that power is not beauty, certainly, but Case does well to hold onto power; there are many beautiful voices in Pop Rock, but few have such a sensational range.
Alt-country. The country and western melodies, characteristic of the first two solo albums, are informed by folk, blues, and slightly by soul. However, the work, beyond the feral intensity, boasts a tangible formal harmony and cohesion as a whole.
An album of country folk and certain beauty, then. The country folk is modern and very personally re-elaborated, the beauty is edgy and universal.
It is probably the best starting point to venture into the work of the Virginia singer-songwriter, always seeking a renewed balance between roots inspiration and indie adherence.
The album was released in 2002 by Anti-Records.
It gave her some visibility. Perhaps not the desired one. Here are the facts: at the time, a little over thirty, Case won the title of "Sexiest Babe of Indie Rock," a survey conducted by a very down-to-earth entertainment media, surpassing Chan Marshall (alias Cat Power), Caithlin De Marrais of Rainer Maria, and all four Sahara Hotnights. However, she proved little inclined to explicit poses and becoming a "former Playboy pin-up girl," preferring diligent commitment to music.
Regarding the album's contents, we find deserts, plains, roads, highways, crossroads, escapes, bewilderment, soft clay ("to work on astride"), female pilots (“Planes were never built to fly”), rails and train passengers, stalkers, murderers, whores, night hours, starry skies, insomnia, loneliness, tears and rain, fiery red bells and blacklists, stinging velvet on skin, ivy wrapped tightly around, soaking and penetrating to the bones.
And a strong sense of mystery with which to complete one's destiny.
“Hidden wonders
Like clouds rising
From the sea”
Just a few passages.
There is the lively initial bluegrass of "Things That Scare Me”, the sweet and stinging “I Wish I Was The Moon” with the naive evidence of a Francoise Hardy, there is the intriguing country of “I Missed The Point” (Case has considerable love for Loretta Lynn) and the majestic honky-tonk of “Stinging Velvet”.
“When I am walking under the stars
I crave all the declining hours
All the lonely homes stand as monuments
To thieves”
Notable, seductive, and dramatic is the hypersensitive blues of “Pretty Girls”. It is worth diving into.
“Deep Red Bells” represents the state of the art: a sinister ballad, full of tension. A murder ballad, given the protagonist is the horrible Green River serial killer, Gary Ridgway. A rhythmic up and down that flows into a country-folk melody, a febrile delirium extinguished in a cascade of emotions. The baritone guitar of Brian Connelly (of Shadowy Men On a Shadowy Planet), outlines a murderous background of dark suspense à la 'Twin Peaks', as it does in the title track, the tune closest to Nick Cave.
Mary Margaret O’Hara, cult Canadian singer-songwriter (“Miss America” of 1988!), guest stars in the sinuous and tight “Ghost Wiring”, with her irregular and unpredictable counterpoint.
Deep Red Bells
Led you to this secluded place
His blazing threats twisted loose tongues
Red bells invite you to drive
A footprint on the driver's side
Looks a lot like engine oil
And tastes of what is poor and small
And of popsicles in summer
Must it always come to this?
Red bells ring this tragic hour
She lost sight of the overpass
Daylight won’t help her bear
When the foliage stains rise around your bones
Who had the time to fold the clothes
Before heading into the Valley of the Shadow?
Where does this petty world lay its cold stare?
Who was left to suffer long above you?
Your soul turns like a paper bag
Past vacant lots and early graves?
You like all others who lost their way
Murdered on the interstate
While red bells ring with a voice of thunder
Deep red bells, deep as what has been done to me
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Blacklisted (02:22)
Fast train
Where do your passengers wait
What's at the heart of your engine's rage
To what smooth place at the end of the line
With crackling fires and quiet plains
Do the trees bend down
Fold their limbs round you
Welcome home faithful one
We forgive you
Slow down fast train
Slow down fast train
Take me with you
02 I Wish I Was the Moon (03:34)
Chimney falls and lovers blaze
Thought that I was young
Now I've freezing hands and bloodless veins
As numb as I've become
I'm so tired
I wish I was the moon tonight
Last night I dreamt I had forgotten my name
'Cause I had sold my soul but awoke just the same
I'm so lonely
I wish I was the moon tonight
God blessed me, I'm a free man
With no place free to go
I'm paralyzed and collared-tight
No pills for what I fear
This is crazy
I wish I was the moon tonight
Chimney falls and lovers blaze
Thought that I was young
Now I've freezing hands & bloodless veins
As numb as I've become
I'm so tired,
I wish I was the moon tonight
How will you know if you found me at least
'Cause I'll be the one, be the one, be the one
With my heart in my lap
I'm so tired, I'm so tired
I wish I was the moon tonight
03 Stinging Velvet (02:55)
Rain falls, I fix my eyes
Let go of the focus and I blur out all the lines
Just to remember, remember
Crying 'cause it's not my fault
Water through my lashes look just like Christmas lights
And I still remember, remember
Cold and shivering
Cold and shivering
Cold and shivering warm
Sing please, rock me to sleep
Quiet as a canyon up under heaven's eaves
I surrender, surrender
Downstairs the furnace swells
Safe from all the horrors in your stinging velvet arms
And I surrender, surrender
Cold and shivering
Cold and shivering
Cold and shivering warm
04 Tightly (02:16)
When I'm walkin' under stars
I covet all the waning hours
All the lonely houses stand like monuments
To thieves
When I'm walkin' in the dark
I'm free to covet all I want
You've made it all so very dangerous
I can't stay away
When I'm walkin' under trees
I'm free to covet all I please
New moon's in the alley
And its madness calls to me
Tonight, tonight, tonight...
If I meet you in the night
You're free to covet all you like
Don't you try and stop me
I cling tightly... to this life
07 Pretty Girls (03:25)
Oh pretty girls, you're too good for this
How you break my heart in this cold waiting room
Oh pretty girls, you're too good for this
Don't let them tell you you're nothing
Don't let them break your hearts too
The TV is blaring and angry
As if you don't know why you're here
Those who walk without sin are so hungry
Don't let the wolves in, pretty girls
Your hearts are so tried and so innocent
Wind your flimsy blue gowns tight around you
Around curves so comely and sinister
They blame it on you pretty girls
Oh pretty girls, you're too good for this
How you break my heart in this cold waiting room
Oh pretty girls, you're too good for this
Don't let them tell you you're nothing
Don't let them break your hearts too
My girls, you're just like the heavens
Not a soul to take your hand in theirs
Your tears and wild constellations
Broad limbs and hard folding chairs
But there's millions to count you and keep you
And lovers that don't understand
Don't let them tell you you're nothing
'Cause you'll change the world pretty girls
Come chain yourself from my ankles
You'll see the world like a bird
Diving down low, flying up high
Thru all of these saccharine gutters we'll ride and I
Won't say that I told you so
08 Deep Red Bells (04:03)
He led you to this hiding place
His lightening threats spun silver tongues
The red bells beckon you to ride
A handprint on the driver's side
It looks a lot like engine oil and tastes like being poor and small
And Popsicles in the summer
Deep red bells, deep as I've been done
Deep red bells, deep as I've been done
It always has to come this
Red bells ring this tragic gun
Lost sight of the overpass
The daylight won't remember her
When speckled fronds raise round your bones
Who took the time to fold your clothes
Who shook the Valley of the Shadow
Deep red bells, deep as I've been done
Deep red bells, deep as I've been done
Where does this mean world cast its cold eye
Who's left to suffer long about you
Does your soul cast about like an old paper bag
Past empty lots and early graves
Those like you who lost their way
Murdered on the interstate
While the red bells rang like thunder
Deep red bells, deep as I've been done
Deep red bells, deep as I've been done
Deep red bells, deep as I've been done
10 Outro With Bees (01:35)
How's hope feeling today
Tired and sick of this place
Red wine is fast
At the lip of your glass
Saying I'm going to ruin
Everything
Everything
So its better my sweet
That we hover like bees
'Cause there's no sure footing
No love, I believe
12 Things That Scare Me (02:30)
Fluorescent lights engage
Blackbirds frying on a wire
Same birds that followed me to school When I was young
Were they trying to tell me something
Were they telling me to run
The hammer clicks in place
The world's gonna pay
Right down in the face of God and his saints
Claim your soul's not for sale
I'm a dying breed who still believes
Haunted by American dreams
Haunted by American dreams
13 Ghost Wiring (03:54)
What happens at home since I've gone away
Needles drop soft and sharp
And the leaves gently sway
Low ceiling moves in and circles the bay
Rain rakes the trees
The Sound that's counted so many days
So many days
Wet shoes drag you off to school
Shoes that never dry
Crows curse and beat their wings
Why can't you be smarter girl?
Lift up your face
Don't feel sorry for yourself
I'll always wait for you
Your ghost is a lightshow at night
On the Grand Coulee Dam
The river is watching you
At the drive-in tonight
Who do they comfort now
Since I've gone away
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