Case Oats – Nora
Case Oats, the Chicago-based band led by Casey Gomez Walker (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), release the latest single, “Nora,” from their debut album Last Missouri Exit, out August 22nd via Merge Records.
Following “In a Bungalow,” last month’s reflection on people and places left behind, “Nora” is a ’60s-inspired brooding yet playful track about “the woman your boyfriend left you for.” The song’s unexpected refrain “I’m glad you are here now / I can see now” is a bit of late-night introspection brimming with wit and grace.
On the single, Gomez Walker says, “Sometimes you find yourself in a relationship with someone who clearly loves their ex. You kid yourself, thinking it might not be true, or that they might start loving you. You stick around. But in the end they won’t. So this song is a love letter to my ex’s once and future lover. If they’re meant to be together there’s no use in being mad. I’m genuinely thanking her for releasing me from that situation and celebrating her love. I don’t see why anyone should be mad at real love. It should be honored. So in this song I’m saying I love you to her, I’m glad you’re here now, I can see now.”
Last Missouri Exit longs to be listened to while one watches the sun set from their porch swing. But the record’s wistful, idyllic take on the Midwest isn’t nostalgia for the past—it is what Casey and the band—Spencer Tweedy (drums), Max Subar (guitar, pedal steel), Jason Ashworth (bass), Scott Daniel (fiddle), and Nolan Chin (piano, organ)—conjured “Big Pink-style” in the basement one summer on an ad-hoc rig. What they’ve made is warm and inviting, an album that reveals itself on first spin and grows deeper with each listen.
The record gels around Gomez Walker’s sharply drawn character studies, capturing a transitional time for her. On the drive north from her Missouri hometown to Chicago, the sign before the Illinois border reads, in part, “Last Missouri Exit.” Crossing it signaled the end of her childhood and the beginning of the rest of her life. The album is a hinge between those two states, its pangs of homesickness overlapping with the thrill of breaking for the horizon.
Case Oats will play a number of album release shows in New York, Toronto, and Chicago this summer in addition to two festivals: Out of Space in Skokie and Americana Music Festival in Nashville. In October, the band will support Lucius and Superchunk on their North American Tours.
Case Oats Tour Dates:
Thu. July 24 – Sun. July 27 – Skokie, IL @ Out of Space
Tue. Aug. 19 – New York, NY @ Nightclub 101 %
Wed. Aug. 20 – Toronto, ON @ The Drake %
Fri. Aug. 22 – Chicago, IL @ The Hideout %
Tue. Sept. 9 – Sat. Sept. 13 – Nashville, TN @ Americana Music Festival
Fri. Oct 3 – New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s #
Tue. Oct 7 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown #
Wed. Oct 8 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall #
Fri. Oct. 10 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre #
Sat. Oct. 11 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater #
Mon. Oct. 13 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre $
Tue. Oct. 14 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge $
Wed. Oct. 15 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club Ballroom $
Fri. Oct. 17 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern $
Sat. Oct. 18 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios $
Sun. Oct.19 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios $
Tue. Oct.21 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent $
Thu. Oct.23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom $
% Album Release Show
# supporting Lucius
$ with Superchunk
#caseoats