- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Starbucks should replace Norah Jones with Holland as its mood musician of choice; her compositional brew is smooth, with jolts of witty malice.
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Holland gracefully achieves the spookiness and timelessness artists like Tori Amos and Cat Power have been chasing for years.
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She sounds as distant as much of the Anthology of American Folk Music, and yet there is an intimacy to her songs. This is a singer/poet who really feels things. And this is the new, weird America, and Holland is singing its woes with a wisdom far beyond her age.
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It's difficult to think of a more compelling sophomore record by a young singer-songwriter, Norah included.
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UncutAnother relaxed but enigmatic foray into modernist roots territory to stand alongside records by Gillian Welch, Laura Veirs, Sparklehorse and Bonnie "Prince" Billy. [Jun 2004, p.98]
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MojoIt really is incredibly good, even if sometimes it's hard to feel you're hearing the real Jolie and not a character she's adopted. [Jun 2004, p.110]
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It's the voice that does it - all hazy smoke and dusty cotton, this time sounding like she's channelling Billie Holiday.
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Q MagazineHer jazz-tinged voice soars; the music manages to be both wonderfully austere and subtly strange. [Jun 2004, p.98]
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Musically, Holland could be considered the more eccentric and authentic second cousin of Norah Jones.
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A listening experience that is singular, startling, and soulful.
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For lovers of all strands of Americana -- not to mention those who revel in the effortless performance of a truly unique singer -- Escondida is a little treasure, and a beguiling addition to any collection.
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While self-diversifying is a perfectly acceptable (and sometimes glorious) approach to recording a fully realized, internally cohesive album, Holland's scope periodically makes Escondida appear non-committal and/or scattered.
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[Holland] has been rather mistakenly compared to Billie Holiday; she’s more like Jeff Buckley covering Nina Simone, turning a very modern ear toward yesterday.
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PlanetIf Norah Jones and Gillian Welch are the sunny side of the roots revival, then Jolie Holland is Grapes of Wrath darkness. [#7, p.73]
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Her music embodies a dyed-in-the-wool timelessness that can't be counterfeited.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 6 out of 7
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Mixed: 0 out of 7
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Negative: 1 out of 7
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JohnMApr 8, 2007I call this lazy, Sunday morning music but I play it all the time. Beautiful
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AlexWJul 30, 2006Fantastic. The best artist I have come across in quite some time. Holland can sing the blues with the best of them.
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JulieJMar 28, 2005Mad Tom of Bedlam makes me crazy.