“If I knew heartbreak was coming, I would’ve set out running,” Neko Case sings in the first moments of her second album. Judging by the gorgeous “Porchlight” and the many more ache-filled ballads on Furnace Room Lullaby, Case is not so good at evading break-ups. Thankfully, the alt-country singer’s bold, rich voice seems custom-built for an old-school kind of hurtin’. Rave-ups with rough edges reminiscent of Case’s garage-rock roots, “Mood to Burn Bridges” and “Whip the Blankets” portray spikier reactions to love gone wrong.
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