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Jun 07, 2018 Conan O’Brien By Christopher Roberts

Neko Case released a new album, Hell-On, last Friday via ANTI-. Last night she stopped by Conan to perform one of the album’s singles, “Bad Luck.” Check out the performance below, followed by her upcoming tour dates.

Previously Case shared the album’s title track, “Hell-On” (which was one of our Songs of the Week), as well as a trailer for the album that featured her singing “Hell-On” while snakes slithered around her head. Then she shared another song from the album, “Bad Luck,” as well as a short “Bad Luck” visual featuring Case in a burning house with the crown of cigarettes she wears on the album cover. “Bad Luck” was also one of our Songs of the Week. She also announced some September North American tour dates with support from Thao (of Thao & the Get Down Stay Down). And then she shared another song, “Curse of the I-5 Corridor,” a 7-minute long duet with Mark Lanegan that was our #1 Song of the Week.

While recording Hell-On in Stockholm, Case got a phone call at 3 a.m. that her house had burned down after her barn had caught on fire. A friend had saved her dogs, but not much else. The lyrics to “Bad Luck” were written prior to the fire, but took on new meaning when she recorded the song the day after the fire.

Case had this to say about the fire in a previous press release: “If somebody burned your house down on purpose, you’d feel so violated. But when nature burns your house down, you can’t take it personally.” Her house burned down soon after Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston, Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico, and wildfires spread across California. “In the big picture, my house burning was so unimportant,” Case added in the press release. “So many people lost so much more: lives and lives and lives.”

It’s been five years since Case’s last solo album, 2013’s lengthily titled The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You. Although she has also taken part in two New Pornographers albums since then and in 2016 she teamed up with k.d. lang, and Laura Veirs for the collaborative album case/lang/veirs.

Case self-produced Hell-On, although six tracks were co-produced with Bjorn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John in Stockholm, Sweden. Case mixed the album in Stockholm with Lasse Martin. The album features a slew of special guests, including Beth Ditto, Mark Lanegan, k.d. Lang, AC Newman, Eric Bachmann, Kelly Hogan, Doug Gillard, Laura Veirs, and Joey Burns.

A previous press release said Hell-On “is simultaneously her most accessible and most challenging album, in a rich and varied career that’s offered plenty of both. Hell-On is rife with withering self-critique, muted reflection, anthemic affirmation, and Neko’s unique poetic sensibility.”

Neko Case Tour Dates:

June 8 - Irving, TX @ The Pavilion At Toyota Music Factory*
June 9 - Austin, TX @ Austin360 Amphitheatre*
June 10 - Sugarland, TX @ Smart Financial Centre*
June 12 - Rogers, AR @ Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion*
June 13 - Southaven, MS @ Bankplus Amphitheatre at Snowden Grove*
June 15 - Indianapolis, IN @ Farm Bureau Lawn at White River Amphitheatre*
June 16 - Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island*
June 17 - Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheatre*
June 19 - Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre*
June 20 - Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion*
June 22 - Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing*
June 23 - Boston, MA @ Blue Hills Bank Pavilion*
June 24 - Boston, MA @ Blue Hills Bank Pavilion*
June 26 - Wallingford, CT @ Oakdale Theatre*
June 28 - Bangor, ME @ Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion*
June 29 - North Adams, MA @ MASS MOCA*
June 30 - Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica*
July 1 - Detroit, MI @ Meadow Brook Amphitheatre*
July 3 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Heinz Hall*
July 4 - Cooperstown, NY @ Brewery Ommegang*
July 6 - Madison, WI @ Breese Stevens Field*
July 7 - St. Louis, MO @ Peabody Opera House*
July 8 - Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre*
July 10 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre*
September 5 - Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater^
September 6 - St. Paul, MN @ The Palace Theatre^
September 7 - Des Moines, IA @ Hoyt Sherman Place^
September 8 - Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre^
September 9 - Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom^
September 11 - New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre^
September 12 - Birmingham, AL @ Iron City^
September 13 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse^
September 14 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Memorial Hall at UNC^
September 15 - Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theater^
September 17 - Harrisburg, PA @ Sunoco Theatre^
September 20 - New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre^
September 24 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall^
September 26 - Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall at Babeville^
September 27 - St. Johnsbury, VT @ Fuller Hall^
October 29 - Stockholm, SE @ Nalen
October 30 - Copenhagen, DK @ Bremen Theatre
November 1 - Berlin, DE @ Bi Nuu
November 2 - Cologne, DE @ Stadtgarten Cologne
November 3 - Groningen, NL @ Takeroot Festival (De Oosterpoort)
November 4 - Brussels, BE @ Rotonde - Botanique
November 6 - Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
November 7 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
November 8 - London, UK @ Barbican

*w/ Ray LaMontagne
^w/ Thao (of the Get Down Stay Down)

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