Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna

American artist Neko Case has shared “Rusty Mountain,” a new single off her upcoming album Neon Grey Midnight Green.  The third single released for the album, “Rusty Mountain” comes just days before the Friday release of Neon Grey Midnight Green. The single can be found on the ANTI-Records YouTube channel.

The song begins with a folk-y guitar and some dynamic strings complimenting Case’s vocals, opening with the declaration that “love songs mostly sound the same.” She sings with a unique delivery and cadence that feels poetic at times. As the second verse kicks in, the instrumentals change completely, swelling to a balladic height alongside Case before coming back down to deliver the chorus with even more emphasis, drawing the lines out even further. Piano comes in alongside vocalizations and the swelling of the strings for the third verse, creating a triumphant feeling to the climax. The instrumentals pull out at the very end of the song, leaving just Case’s voice to deliver the final lines “Gonna build this rusty mountain till we smoke cigarettes on the sun; we all deserve better than a love song.” The song speaks of love, and seemingly of independence and self-reliance.  Case seems to speak on artificial and obligatory love, urging people to avoid such relationships and to find relationships that truly work for them. As she says, even if love may not be easy, “we all deserve better than some love song.”

“Rusty Mountain” is the latest off Neon Grey Midnight Green, which is due to release this coming Friday on September 26th. It will be Neko Case’s eighth album, and the sixth released entirely solo.