TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. Rock critic Ken Tucker has chosen three new songs that sound nothing like the pop music currently dominating the charts. The first belongs to Neko Case, who has released her first album in seven years called "Neon Grey Midnight Green." Next, there's Valerie June, who Ken says has cut a song that makes a familiar message sound strikingly new. And finally, the British singer Olivia Dean, who was recently nominated for a best new artist Grammy. We start with Neko Case.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DESTINATION")
NEKO CASE: (Singing) Hello, stranger. You remind me of someone, a jangling lust pouncing on a sliver of a dusty pool of light. Your fire's hue is a maraschino cherry, a room-temperature eye backlit by the bar.
KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: The readily recognizable voice of Neko Case, a soaring, searching sound, gets a real workout over the course of her new album "Neon Grey Midnight Green." This collection defies category. When she sang with the Canadian band the New Pornographers, the music was often described as pop rock. On her solo albums, she's leaned toward country and folk. For this new one, she's overseeing nothing less than a chamber orchestra to augment the rich, swirling drama of composition such as this song titled "Oh, Neglect..."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OH, NEGLECT...")
CASE: (Singing) Living on the frontage road, going half the speed. We laughed ourselves sick harmonizing with the freeway. Why would I come home if not to sleep? But I swap out a bunch of clothes and leave. Oh neglect. We've come so far, you and me. Let's do it all again. I am your sorcerer's apprentice, your indentured ever-present. I am your sorcerer's apprentice, your indentured ever-present bankrupted by my own ideas. Oh, neglect.
TUCKER: The songs on Neko Case's "Neon Grey Midnight Green," her first in seven years, are the perfect accompaniment to reading her unsparing, tough-minded memoir from earlier this year, titled "The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You."
When I heard Valerie June's new song, "Runnin' And Searchin'," it reminded me what a strong album she'd put out at the start of the year, a collection called "Owls, Omens, and Oracles." "Runnin' And Searchin'," produced, as the album was, by the guitarist M. Ward, is a fresh way to showcase Valerie June's ringing voice and quicksilver idiosyncratic phrasing. The lyrics are an encouragement to persevere through difficult times. You've heard that sentiment a million times, but you haven't heard the way Valerie June can make the familiar sound like a surprising new challenge and adventure.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUNNIN' AND SEARCHIN'")
VALERIE JUNE: (Singing) Runnin', searchin', fallin', findin'. No, I do not need reminding. Every loss, it is a doorway to the path that lies before me. Let it move you, shake you, take you. Nothing in this life can break you. Seekin', holdin', givin', takin', as that inner light awakens. Sing like no one's listening, dance to set your spirit free. Sunshine got your soul on fire, beaming in the midnight hour. Soaring like shooting star, twinkle, twinkle, what you are. Colors true and burning bright, stratospheric satellite. Runnin', searchin', fallin', findin'.
TUCKER: Valerie June deserves a much bigger audience. By contrast, Olivia Dean is a relative newcomer who's already a big star in her native England, where her talent and popularity are often compared to Adele. Dean sings in a warm, tenor voice, delivering lyrics as though she's murmuring confidences into her phone. Her music has its roots in R&B and smooth soul, what we used to call quiet storm music after Smoky Robinson's own murmured confidences. On the single, "Man I Need," Olivia Dean is talking to a guy she likes, encouraging him to open up more, to be as vulnerable with her as she is with him.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAN I NEED")
OLIVIA DEAN: (Singing) Looks like we're making up for lost time. Need you to spell it out for me. Bossa Nova on all night. It's like a type of alchemy. Introduce me to your best friend. I can come and slot right in. A satellite ain't even that far. I, I kinda wonder where you are. Already know I can't leave it alone. You're on my mind, mm. Already gave you the time and the place. So don't be shy. Just come be the man I need. Tell me you got something to give. I want it. I kinda like it when you call me wonderful. Whatever the type of talk it is, come on then. I gotta know you're meant to be the man I need. Talk to me. Talk to me. Mm, talk to me. Talk to me.
TUCKER: On one of her new songs, Neko Case speaks of love songs as a, quote, "exercise in futility," even as she's singing a beautiful one. So it is with Olivia Dean and Valerie June. They each, in their own distinctive way, express an ambivalence toward romance that makes their commitment to the love song all the more satisfyingly complicated and realistic.
MOSLEY: Ken Tucker reviewed new music by Neko Case, Valerie June and Olivia Dean.
Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance talks about the controversy surrounding the Justice Department, including the prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey and the Epstein files. We'll also discuss Vance's career, and her new book, "Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual For Keeping Democracy." I hope you can join us.
To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram @nprfreshair.
(SOUNDBITE OF REGGIE QUINERLY'S "REFLECTIONS ON THE HUDSON")
MOSLEY: FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our managing producer is Sam Briger. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi and Anna Bauman. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Our consulting visual producer is Hope Wilson. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. With Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF REGGIE QUINERLY'S "REFLECTIONS ON THE HUDSON") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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