The third album by San Francisco-based jazz-folk chanteuse Jolie Holland has earned wildly disparate reactions from the music press thus far. Her first release for the venerated Anti- label, Springtime Can Kill You seems to go for the title belt from track one, looking to beat out Norah Jones, Fiona Apple, and all other more famous comers in the Sultry Circuit. As such, those who perennially root for the underdog are championing Ms Holland‘s opus as record of the year, even record of the five, ten, and 15 years.
Likewise, perennial sceptics and traditionalists have remarked that Holland isn’t yet ready to contend, her warbled musings too formless and vague to hold their own in the ring. However, the truth is somewhere firmly in between those two camps. Springtime won’t save or unravel the dignity of quality musicianship in the aughties; it’s simply a good album with a few really great songs.