Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
by Neko Case
  • Record Label: Anti
  • Release Date: Mar 7, 2006
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 72 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 66 out of 72
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 72
  3. Negative: 4 out of 72

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  1. paulc
    Mar 30, 2006
    8
    personally, i like blacklisted better but i can tell that this album has a lot of lyrical depth to it. with that in mind, ask me what my rating is in a few months. regardless, NO album will ever do neko's live show justice - she is absolutely breathtaking.
  2. Cables
    Mar 7, 2006
    10
    Beautiful in every sense of the word. A true masterpiece.
  3. BobS
    Apr 4, 2006
    8
    I Love Neko Case! I just caught her live and she is spectacular in that setting. The new album Fox Confessor is really good but not a classic as Blacklisted surely is. Her vox is a wonder of the world though.
  4. DesmondB
    Feb 17, 2007
    10
    Fox Confessor is a modern classic. The songs that don't hit you at first will reveal, after repeated listens, the genius of Neko's songwriting.
  5. BridgetFonda
    Mar 10, 2006
    10
    OMG! This is so incredibly good i can't stand it!
  6. madsl
    Mar 27, 2006
    9
    Wow! I'm mightily impressed by the talents of Ms Case. The obvious thing is her remarkable voice which lends the music drama, urgency and passion in turns, but the real stunning thing about this album is the sublety of the melodies. They are anything but ordinary - rather they possess a rare kind of intuitive grace that is seldom experienced in modern music.
  7. Matt
    Mar 7, 2006
    10
    Mesmerizing. Only complaint is that it's too short. I could hear that voice for hours at a time.
  8. Bill
    Mar 7, 2006
    9
    A wonderfully listless psychological meditation on love lost (and sometimes found). The best record of 2006 so far.
  9. TomY
    Mar 8, 2006
    10
    Neko Case at her countrified best. A brilliant album from start to finish that sounds slightly more alt than country when compared with her earlier work.
  10. lorne
    Mar 8, 2006
    9
    An artfully recorded record destined to be compromise by this age's love of the digital medium. A rare masterwork requiring analogue's sonic superiority to experience this record's atmospheric depths to its fullest. Lyrically Ms. Case has few peers. One only needs to listen to Track #7 -- John Saw That Number -- a 18th C. spiritual to be immediately confronted by an An artfully recorded record destined to be compromise by this age's love of the digital medium. A rare masterwork requiring analogue's sonic superiority to experience this record's atmospheric depths to its fullest. Lyrically Ms. Case has few peers. One only needs to listen to Track #7 -- John Saw That Number -- a 18th C. spiritual to be immediately confronted by an overwhelming power rare in today's nihilistic musical culture. Track #2 -- Hold On Hold On -- harkens back to the classic three-minute pop of The Mamas and the Papas, offering an entry point for a whole new audience into the lush, arcane universe of Neko Case. "With this album," Neko Case reflected on this record, "I wanted to try and figure out how fairy tales were born." Ignore her inspiring work at your own peril.… Expand
  11. TheGiraffe
    Mar 8, 2006
    10
    Best album of 2006 so far. She's always had the voice, but she's never had a batch of songs this strong before. If a better record comes out this year, we're all in for a treat.
  12. Dave
    Mar 9, 2006
    10
    Great CD, may be even better than Blacklisted. Can't wait to here her live!
  13. dinor
    Apr 2, 2006
    9
    See Her LIVE if she comes to your town. AMAZING. Fox Confessor is not shabby either
  14. TravisB
    May 31, 2006
    9
    Beautiful. I'm not even a huge country fan, and I love this stuff. Check out "maybe sparrow" or "teenage feeling", in addition to the single "star witness"
  15. Alacran
    May 3, 2006
    9
    Beautiful tunes with a great voice
  16. JohnD
    Jun 28, 2006
    9
    Another case of Rolling Stone missing the point by a mile. The "David Lynch-like lyrics" can be attributed to Case's fixation on reimagining foreign fairy tales (Cokemachineglow's review delves into that more than I am able to). I hate country music, but I love alterative country; I'll put on that last Loretta Lynn album or a Drive-By Truckers over Toby Keith any day. Another case of Rolling Stone missing the point by a mile. The "David Lynch-like lyrics" can be attributed to Case's fixation on reimagining foreign fairy tales (Cokemachineglow's review delves into that more than I am able to). I hate country music, but I love alterative country; I'll put on that last Loretta Lynn album or a Drive-By Truckers over Toby Keith any day. It's hard to hate this album because there is so much to love about it.… Expand
  17. christopherp
    Jul 3, 2006
    10
    excellent!!!!!
  18. CLe
    Jan 6, 2007
    10
    Neko's voice is stunning. The way it glides reminds me of... snowboarding. I also love the abstract nature of her lyrics. It's a great contrast to the sometimes overly literal lyrics of pop country. One of the best albums of 2006.
  19. SteveH
    Mar 19, 2006
    10
    I am seriously infatuated with this album...if not obsessed!
  20. laurene
    Mar 21, 2006
    10
    Incredible lyrics, an unmatched voice and talent in music today.
  21. GinaL
    Mar 31, 2006
    5
    some songs are pretty good (maybe sparrow, star witness). others are boooooring (most of the rest)
  22. G-Man
    Mar 6, 2006
    9
    Nothing compares to Neko's passion and grace that comes across in her voice. "Star Witness" and "A Widow's Toast" are a couple of the highlights on a very strong solo-album. The New Pornographers should count their blessings that they have such a talented gal to play with.
  23. KevinC
    Mar 6, 2006
    9
    Expanding on the cryptic themes of Blacklisted, Neko Case's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is an emotionally arresting piece of work. Elements of rockabilly, gospel, and folk perfectly weave together to establish the album's deliciously intoxicating mood ("That Teenage Feeling" and "Lion's Jaw"). Neko subverts traditional song structure and production, and it works because Expanding on the cryptic themes of Blacklisted, Neko Case's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is an emotionally arresting piece of work. Elements of rockabilly, gospel, and folk perfectly weave together to establish the album's deliciously intoxicating mood ("That Teenage Feeling" and "Lion's Jaw"). Neko subverts traditional song structure and production, and it works because her indelible, unmistakable voice holds each of the tracks together. Fox Confessor is a damn good record.… Expand
  24. TomB.
    Mar 8, 2006
    10
    Album of the year. Noone else is making music like this, a labor of love from the first note to the last. A total antidote to the packaged, bland, corporate crap that dominates the airwaves these days. This is real music, made by real musicians who are peerless in their talents. Do yourself a favor and listen to this quietly for a week.
  25. romanmc
    Apr 11, 2006
    8
    This album sounds like a dressed-up Blacklisted. It's got some dark, brooding country-gothic in it, however, "Star Witness" and "That Teenage Feelin'" let in more 50s sunshine than anything on Blacklisted. Which works.
  26. MatthewC
    Apr 26, 2006
    10
    This album just grows in stature every time I listen to it. Gorgeous vocals, lovely arrangements and challenging, unpredicatble lyrics that keep you thinking at every turn. Best thing I've heard this year. It is a fairly sshort album, but there's no filler to be found. An improvement on Blacklisted, if that's possible.
  27. DavidM
    May 3, 2006
    4
    I love Neko's work with the New Pornographers, and like a lot of other alt-country artists, Lucinda Williams, so given that and the great reviews this album has garnered, I find myself shocked how little I like this ablum... Don't by the other posters praising this albums emotionalism...I find it very cold and distant, and musically outside of the overdubbed vocals on Star I love Neko's work with the New Pornographers, and like a lot of other alt-country artists, Lucinda Williams, so given that and the great reviews this album has garnered, I find myself shocked how little I like this ablum... Don't by the other posters praising this albums emotionalism...I find it very cold and distant, and musically outside of the overdubbed vocals on Star Witness, which are gorgeous, and moments of Hold On, nothing here engages me. And there's a weird, I don't know, almost maybe David Lynch-like bizarreness to some of the lyrics...maybe this is just the way Neko does it on her own...if so, I'll wait for the next NP… Expand
  28. DREFromCharlotte
    Sep 14, 2006
    10
    Neko Case has the clearest voice in 2006 music. 'Fox' is a lovely, sorta wacko, alt-country masterpiece. It's sort of like stepping back in time to heart Pasty Cline singing cutting-edge alt.
  29. PhilM
    Jan 10, 2007
    10
    Beautiful.
  30. GernickK
    Apr 16, 2007
    10
    played the record again this weekend after not having listened to it for a while, was again struck by the sheer gorgeousness of this album. possibly the best album of 2006 (though i struggle to think of an album that could match this in 2006) Catch her live if you can, it will be magic.
  31. ReubenF
    Dec 18, 2006
    9
    'Hold On, Hold On' and 'Needle Has Landed' are among the most beautiful songs of 2006. She might not have quite the same cult appeal of some other alt.country female artists to have emerged in recent years, like Martha Wainright's (2005) 'Bloody Mother F..king Asshole' (my Finnish house-mate is a fan), or the more obscure Joanna Newsom. But Neko Case is 'Hold On, Hold On' and 'Needle Has Landed' are among the most beautiful songs of 2006. She might not have quite the same cult appeal of some other alt.country female artists to have emerged in recent years, like Martha Wainright's (2005) 'Bloody Mother F..king Asshole' (my Finnish house-mate is a fan), or the more obscure Joanna Newsom. But Neko Case is producing some of the best music of the genre. Interesting to note that a fellow New Pornographers member Daniel Bejar also has a successful solo career with his band Destroyer - something I have only just discovered.… Expand
  32. GerardoC
    Mar 13, 2006
    10
    Neko has the ability to put all the beauty and grotesqueness of living into one album, one breathe. That voice is from some undiscovered dimension and I'll follow her there or anywhere she wants.
  33. JackP
    Apr 17, 2006
    10
    Thanks to MTV and ClearChannel, an artist with talent like Neko Case gets mostly ignored by the masses, while that weak-ass, generic, formulaic punk/pop crap gets hyped up to near unbelievable levels. While they whine and bitch like 15-year-olds, Neko makes *real* emotional music.
  34. RobC
    Sep 29, 2006
    8
    1- Amazing voice. 2- Beautiful Music 3- Strange Cover
  35. TheDaveHimself
    Aug 6, 2011
    9
    "Star Witness" is top shelf, along with "John Saw that Number". There isn't a bad song on this record. I would say it's probably her best, but I know most wouldn't agree. Different from Blacklisted and sort of points in the direction of Middle Cyclone. Worth it.

Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Best Album of 2006
92
#92 Most Discussed Album of 2006
94
#94 Most Shared Album of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Universal acclaim - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 28
  3. Negative: 0 out of 28
  1. NOW Magazine
    80
    Case's overzealous self-production means there are layers upon layers to every track, which sometimes works to her detriment.
    Read full review
  2. The Guardian
    80
    The singing gives you goosebumps.
    Read full review
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    91
    Moving futher away from her early alt-country sound has sharpened Case's songwriting instincts. [10 Mar 2006, p.68]
See all critic reviews »