Neko Case – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You

With a title as long and evocative as a novel, Neko Case’s 2013 album The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You is a deeply personal, fiercely emotional, and beautifully constructed work of art. Following the critical success of 2009’s Middle Cyclone, this album finds Case in a darker, more introspective place, wrestling with themes of loss, depression, identity, and resilience.

Where her previous albums balanced Americana, folk, and alt-country, The Worse Things Get... leans heavily into indie rock, with rawer production and a sharper lyrical edge. Case’s powerful, untamed voice remains the anchor, soaring over lush arrangements and biting storytelling.

Reviews

"It's some of her most instantly gratifying work as well, perfectly encapsulating all of her personas, from the erudite, whiskey-shooting provocateur to the sweet and soulful, small town crooner who sounds like she was plucked from the pages of a novel set in the antebellum north. Case has proven time and again that she has the songwriting chops to match her earthy, superlative voice, but never with such authority." Allmusic