Neko Case is streaming her latest album (deep breath), The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You, in full two weeks ahead of its release date (August 3rd via ANTI-). Take a listen now at NPR.
According to a press release, the album was executive produced by Case and recorded recorded at Wavelab in Tuscon, as well as Portland, Los Angeles and with Phil Palazzolo in Brooklyn. She was joined in the studio by guitarist Paul Rigby, bassist Tom V. Ray, vocalist Kelly Hogan and multi-instrumentalist Jon Rauhouse, along with M. Ward, Steve Turner, Howe Gelb, and members of The New Pornographers, My Morning Jacket, Calexico, Los Lobos and Visqueen.
The tracklist spans 12 songs, including a cover of “Afraid” by Nico. The material is described as Case’s “most precise, urgent record to date, marked by a melodic immediacy, a loving embrace of the big rock gesture, and a lyrical frankness.”
Pre-orders for the album are ongoing. Below, watch the lyric video for “Night Still Comes”:
The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You Tracklist:
01. Wild Creatures
02. Night Still Comes
03. Man
04. I’m From Nowhere
05. Bracing for Sunday
06. Nearly Midnight, Honolulu
07. Calling Cards
08. City Swans
09. Afraid
10. Local Girl
11. Where Did I Leave That Fire
12. Ragtime