Since making a quietly auspicious solo debut on 1997's
The Virginian
,
Neko Case
has firmly established herself as one of the singular artists of her time, creating a body of work that never fails to impress with her silky but bold vocals, her inventive melodic sense, her atmospheric and evocative arrangements, and lyrics that are deeply personal and artful while also being powerfully direct and emotionally forceful. A quarter century after her debut, if any artist was deserving of a quality best-of album, it's
, and she's offered her own idiosyncratic version of the career-overview compilation with 2022's
Wild Creatures
. Wrapped up in gorgeous, playfully ominous artwork from Laura Plansker and featuring liner note contributions from the likes of
David Byrne
Jeff Tweedy
Shirley Manson
, and
Rosanne Cash
(not to mention
Susan Orlean
and
Mayim Bialik
),
offers 22 carefully chosen tracks picked from 2000's
Furnace Room Lullaby
through 2018's
Hell-On
(but skipping the 2016 collaborative effort
case/lang/veirs
), with the torchy, chaotic, and previously unreleased "Oh, Shadowless" included as a bonus. The music on
may have been recorded over the space of 20-plus years, but it plays with the assurance and sense of purpose of a real album. While many different moods ebb and flow throughout its running time,
Case
's voice and vision are at center stage throughout, and it's a remarkably satisfying listening experience. At a time when the template of an empowered female vocalist usually involved forcing their grit and over-emoting up and down the scale,
showed how much she could communicate with her subtle but perfectly punctuated phrasing, her razor-sharp intelligence and dark wit, and her ability to convey a broad range of emotions and ideas with her smooth but fearless delivery.
is the
Meryl Streep
of modern pop vocalists -- her expressive range feels limitless, she makes her brilliance look easy, and the joy of her delight in her craft is there without calling attention to herself.
is a deeply satisfying sampling from her first 25 years, and it's hard not to believe (or hope) she has another 25 this good still in her. ~ Mark Deming