from The Seattle Times:
Some singers attack a song with a chain saw. Holly Cole prefers a scalpel.
The cool-toned jazz chanteuse possesses a razor sharp gift for revealing unexpected emotional subtexts in familiar songs. She’s an expert at cutting through hints of bad faith and self-deception, so that a long-flickering torch song like “You’re My Thrill” suddenly flares up, taking on a menacing air of voyeuristic obsession.
“A lot of people confuse irony with sarcasm, and there’s a huge difference,” says Cole, 45, who opens a two-night run of her “A Night Before Christmas” show at Jazz Alley on Monday. “Sarcasm is the cheapest form of humor and not that interesting. Irony doesn’t necessarily have to say one thing and mean another. It can just be pointing out potential conflicts of interest.”
When it comes to the holidays however, Cole mostly gives her ironic reflex a rest. Growing up in a passionately musical family in New Brunswick, one of Canada’s Maritime Provinces, she fondly remembers family song sessions reaching a fevered pitch during Christmas.
Continue reading at The Seattle Times.