By Rachel F
Neko Case
Middle Cyclone
Neko Case is an American signer songwriter; her fifth and latest solo album Middle Cyclone came out back in February 2009. Case is also widely known for her vocals in the Canadian rock group The New Pornographers. In her album Middle Cyclone she collaborates with band members from The New Pornographer, Calexico, Los Lobos, Ward and Garth Hudson to create a diverse and majestic sound.
Each track within Middle Cyclone is dressed in Case’s intense vocals. Her strong honeyed voice carries each song, creating a smooth transition from track to track within the album. Contrary to her prior album (Fox Confessor Brings the Flood), she added a hint of jazz and orchestra to her originally folk music. The diversity in this album works together to create a cohesive piece of work. Despite multiple aspects to Case’s sound none of her tracks sound cluttered of disorganized. The album has a continuous fresh and new sound.
Case’s poetic lyrics are surreal in many cases and are hard to pin down to find a definite meaning. In the song This Tornado loves you, Case uses the tornado as a metaphor. The song goes on to describe a tornado that is searching for its love and consequently leaves behind destruction wherever it goes. The tornado could represent nature fighting man for its own satisfaction, which would make the theme man vs. nature. Another way to look at the tornado is to think of it representing love and death, and how people will run from these things for no clear reason and that trying to escape it usually does more harm then good, which could be Cases’s way of saying that one should just face difficult situations. Like most of her work each song could have multiple meaning depending on how you approach it.
Middle Cyclone combines assorted musical sounds and profound lyric’s to create a dreamlike album. This is my favorite album of Neko Case’s to date and I am anticipating her next release although it is hard to predict what she might do next.
Rachel F. is a grade 12 student at Fredericton High.
Welcome to the Jungle 