Singer Jolie Holland has a mystery in her voice. A chanteuse whose songs have a rippling beauty, Holland weaves a tapestry of influences, incorporating touches of country, jazz, pop, and folk. It's a sound that can't be easily pinned down, but it's one that lingers. Originally from Texas and now in San Francisco, Holland splices together the strands of the American dream into a forlorn, aching beauty.
Holland's gorgeously world-weary tone comes across as a fusion between Billie Holiday (to whom she's frequently compared) and Björk. But it's a sweet, velvety voice distinctly her own. She wraps every syllable of the lyrics around her tongue, enunciating in a languorous, I've-seen-it-all way. Her second studio album, and biggest release yet, Springtime Will Kill You, is a battered valentine of a record, all heartbreak and wistful emotion tangled up in that unforgettable voice that'll settle in your frontal lobes.
Springtime Can Kill You is a record that gains potency on each listen. At first blush, her mellow, jazzy style might seem like another Norah Jones-type singer; pretty, but lacking the rough edge. There's a subtle, never-showy genius at work in her songs, which evoke misty visions of America's folk and country music pasts. The title track, "Springtime Can Kill You," is a real highlight, an otherworldly lament that makes images of green new growth and fresh flowers seem haunting and menacing. An eerie whistle fades in and out as Holland sing-chants her woeful story.
The songs are at their finest when they simmer along in that same glittery haze. A few bubble under too gently to really make an impact, but several of the tunes are near-perfect torch songs. "Crazy Dreams" has a heartbroken-at-3 a.m. feeling to it, while the lovely swaying "Stubborn Beast" rolls along with a Patsy Cline feeling. Holland's lyrics have a keen eye for metaphor and telling detail:
"But like a stubborn beast when the barn is on fire
I might resist you when you try to save my life
When the flames rise around us and I can't see the door
This is still my home and it has never burned before."
As Springtime Can Kill You moves through its 12 tracks, it goes from a jazzy feel to a more country twang. "Moonshiner" tosses in the echoey sound of a lap steel guitar, while her spin on the traditional folk song "Adieu False Heart” has a bluegrass color to it. The album's centerpiece is the seven-minute "Nothing To Do But Dream," a morbid epic about a murderess's remorse and confessions. "I can't go crazy and I can't get sane," Holland sings. Would that she stays balanced on the knife's edge a little longer if it helps her make more albums like Springtime Can Kill You.
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
This article has been placed at the Advance.net websites, a site affiliated with about 12 newspapers.
One such site is here.