My wife Deb and I have this get-out-of-jail free policy for affairs outside the marriage; each is permitted a celebrity dalliance, as remote is it may be. If the famed object of lust is available, well then, it's OK. So in my wife's case, if David Bowie or Johnny Depp or Mandingo becomes available, she has my blessing. My choice: Neko Case. But let me qualify by saying I just want her to sing to me...honest. Case is a honky-tonk, roots rock, noir enchantress with an amazing, soaring voice and lyrics that completely and utterly eviscerate. Though her music isn't soul by definition, Neko Case is the ultimate soul singer. There is not a more heartbreaking voice that I can think of alive today. Case is vocalist for The New Pornographers as well, and initially toured in a slightly more rootsy set-up as Neko Case and Her Boyfriends. And though her music contains a dash of pop accessibility and that honky-tonk giddy-up, the atmospheric, dreamscape ache 'n' quake outshines it all. So while Deb's getting' jiggy with Ziggy, Neko Case is just gonna sing to me. OK, maybe I'll try for a peck on the cheek. I mean, gimme a break.

Neko Case performs Sunday, November 8, 8 p.m. at Harro East Ballroom, 155 Chestnut St. $26. 800-919-6272.