Understatement is the Canadian singer’s specialty.
Even at the beginning of her career in the early 1990s, Holly Cole displayed an ability to interpret unexpected material in an idiosyncratic, fresh way – while at the same time making it sound like it’s nothing out of the ordinary. For Dark Moon, her 13th album, she has once again chosen an unusual selection of songs: eleven pieces from the 1940s through the 1960s, originally rooted in jazz, rock ’n’ roll, surf, and country.
Cole says the recordings were made with almost no preparation. The arrangements are correspondingly sparse, deliberately avoiding any precise stylistic definition. You can hear a few touches of electric piano and vibraphone, some very pared-down piano phrases, tasteful brushwork on the drums, and at times a bowed double bass. Howard Levy contributes a solo on chromatic harmonica (“No Moon At All”), while Kevin Breit adds a range of enigmatic guitar sounds. Several tracks dispense with drums entirely.
What remains, almost naked, is Holly Cole’s mature voice – now noticeably rougher, deeper, and more fragile than in earlier years. She is still a singer of subtle nuance and barely perceptible shifts in tone. She can sound soft and vulnerable, but also bold and mischievous. She plays with the emotions in the lyrics as well as those of her listeners. The songs stay short, lean, and focused on the essentials – delivered with a gesture of casual ease.
Holly Cole – Dark Moon
Label: Rumpus Room
Format: CD, LP, digital