CASE/LANG/VEIRS - Case / Lang / Veirs

Anti has been playing several heavy hands lately: a series of albums that, held in the hand, really seem to confirm the old joke: "Does a pound of lead weigh more...?" The "lead" of "Case/Lang/Veirs", like that of some of Anti's other recent releases, lies in the weight of the arrangements, the compositional effort and, in this case, the names involved, three of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters in contemporary Americana (Neko Case, k.d. lang, Laura Veirs).

What's more, it's easy to sense that the album had a truly collective gestation, even as styles shift, from the soul crooning of "1000 Miles Away" to the country-pop tune of "Best Kept Secret", and the result has the compactness of a great classic, with grand, evocative arrangements (the chamber-country of "Blue Fires"). In fact, it's precisely in letting each of them express her own imprint openly, avoiding "supergroup" moves like forced duets and harmonies (the single "Atomic Number" being the sole exception), that the collaboration finds its happiest intuition.

It's easy, then, to fall under their spell, helped along by the three women's evident state of grace, but the album's songwriting is, all things considered, far more uneven than the always-impeccable arrangements and performances would have you believe. "Georgia Stars" is a brisk alt-country number in the vein of Junip, but rather flat and predictable; the soul-folk of "Why Do We Fight" exemplifies the perilous supergroup temptation toward mannerism, as if their mere presence, their mere interpretation, were enough to justify the listen.

“Delirium” shows, for all its effectiveness, just how much the album owes directly to the Seventies (in this case to “Rumours”), in substance, beyond the prevailing revivalist aesthetic. At other times, the songwriting simply doesn't hold up against the overall arrangement (the bland First Aid Kit-style country-folk-pop of “I Want To Be Here”).

“Case/Lang/Veirs” remains, in any case, an album that manages to impress and that could set a standard, with that “impression,” precisely, of a work for connoisseurs. A pleasant listen, but with essentially no memorable tracks.

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23/06/2016