My am I happy for Jolie. When Escondida came out in 2004 it was one of the best kept secrets of the year. It got so little attention that she actually wrote me an E-mail thanking me for the review. Ask Adam how stoked I was about that? I don't think I'll be hearing from her this time around. Almost miraculously Springtime Can Kill You is making big waves in all of the trades and oddly the music hasn't changed much at all.

You could argue that it's a bit more safe and sounds a bit more commersh, but over all the two are pretty interchangeable. Lovely, languorous laments of love lost (her chief MO) and stories of the south. Though, there is a bit less grit and gut-level blows to the lyrics this time out, there is a stronger consistency of quality from track to track.

Since 2004 several other artists have come along who make for easier comparisons to her sound. Chiefly Leslie Feist (erstwhile siren for the beloved Canadian collective Broken Social Scene) You can also see parallels to Martha Wainwright – which makes sense in that the first time around I nearly compared Holland to the McGarrigle sisters (Kate being the mother of Martha and Rufus.)

There is a similar thread that runs through everyone mentioned here, a pioneer spirit, a fearlessness to play the game the way they wish and trust an audience to follow. This jazzier chanteuse approach keeps her close to her beloved Billy Holiday influence - so prevalent on Escondida. Jolie has more of a palpable personality to her voice than Feist or Wainwright, a quality akin to Victoria Williams or Gillian Welch – a quirkiness that endears because it's real not affectation.

Happily the album is fetching high marks in all of the big music mags as well as websites and like I say it couldn't happen to a nicer lass. She wrote me an E-mail when I'm sure I was much less certain of my ability to run a good website than she was of her ability to make it in the music world. I won't hold my breath this time, but it wouldn't shock me either.