Country-Goth.
At this time of year when superstars release their blockbuster cds to take advantage of the holiday shopping season, it’s important that beautiful, artistic statements like Jolie Holland’s The Living and the Dead don’t get lost in the shuffle. Holland’s voice, until now, has been what makes her unique. A smoky, world weary, slurred drawl whose southern accent is so intense it sounds like a foreign language. But on the new album, her songwriting chops catch up with that vocal asset to provide her most satisfying album yet.
After dabbling with jazz arrangements on her last album, she commits to a subdued country-rock approach for this set of songs dealing with life, love and death. Imagery of Jack Kerouac opens “Mexico City” and as the drums kick in she establishes a rhythm that punches up her gloomy, poetic lyrics all through the album. Razor sharp guitar lines from Marc Ribot echo down the peaks and valleys of Holland’s film-noir story telling. Lyrics like “My little heart is a graveyard, it’s a no man’s land” (“Palmyra”), and “What if they only give you love when you lie” (Corrido Por Buddy”) are offset by more suspiciously hopeful sentiments like “That dark horse you’re riding has got to carry me too” (“Sweet Loving Man”) and “Come on and wake up with me from our beautiful dream” (“The Future.”)
Following these haunting atmospherics is the album’s closer, “Enjoy Yourself”, a Guy Lombardo hit half sung, half giggled through by Holland and Samantha Parton, her former band mate in Be Good Tanyas. It’s meant as a tribute to her producer Shahzad Ismaily, who created a setting in which she could be truly comfortable and pull these emotional songs from her fragile psyche. For the artist in Jolie Holland, it made all the difference.
Listen for songs from the album The Living and the Dead by Jolie Holland all this week on Paul Shugrue’s new music show “Out of the Box” on Hampton Roads public radio 89.5 WHRV. Make a pledge to public radio this week during Out of the Box and you can get a free copy of the cd. Mon. through Thurs. from 7 to 9 p.m., Sat. afternoon from 1 to 5 p.m. and on-demand at www.whrv.org/outofthebox.