#76 - Neko Case, Sovereign Songstress

It's the Witch Wave Season 5 premiere! We are honored to have Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Neko Case join us. Neko’s seven solo albums include her 2006 breakthrough album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, and her two Grammy-nominated albums, Middle Cyclone of 2009 and 2013’s The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You. Her most recent album, Hell-On, is a gorgeous sonic tapestry of such tumultuous topics as climate change, twisted fate, and heartache. In 2016 she also released a collaborative album with musicians k.d. lang and Laura Veirs called CASE/LANG/VEIRS. She is also a member of the critically-acclaimed band, The New Pornographers. Neko's music has been described as everything from country noir to art rock, but it transcends genre and soundscape. What is consistent are her signature brilliant lyrics which are full of sharp metaphors and enchanting mythological fragments, as well as her spectacular voice which cuts the air like a diamond. It's no wonder her career has spanned over twenty years - her songs are the stuff of legend. Neko also has a newly-launched Substack newsletter called Entering the Lung. In it she writes lyrical essays about her relationship to the natural world. On this episode, Neko discusses the influence of wildness on her music, her relationship to magical monstresses, and why she identifies as "she/sir." Pam also talks about Witches' Thanksgiving and answers a listener question about how to make physical exercise a spiritual act. Our sponsors for this episode are That Witch Life Podcast, Temperance Home and Bar, Lindsay Mack’s “Heart of Service” course, BetterHelp, Seagrape Apothecary, The Spiral Bookcase, and Jessica Globe Coaching.