You may have heard of Holly Brook, the voice behind Fort Minor's biggest hit, 'Where'd You Go.' She also shares management with rap-rockers Jurassic 5 and the aforementioned Fort Minor hit was on an album executive-produced by Jay-Z. So you'd think Holly would eventually join the number of R&B/hip-hop princesses trying to stake their claim on top of the heap. But once you pop in Holly's debut album, 'Like Blood, Like Honey" (Machine Shop Recordings/Wanrer Bros.), you get something else entirely different but yet no so different.
Her album is a collection of 11 beautifully written songs and comes off as another possible answer to Sarah McLachlan so for fellow contemporary Anna Nalick, she had better watch out. While Holly's vocals resembles Sarah's at times, her music is not exactly Sarah-like, which is both understated but upbeat. Holly brings forward a sound that resembles more like her childhood idol Joni Mitchell and throwing in some early Liz Phair and the darkness (minus the pure anger) of Fiona Apple. This makes for a well-crafted, but unique sound that hasn't been heard in the rather diluted singer-songwriter market for a few years.
The mood gets set very early in the album with the opening track, 'Giving It Up For You,' which is bolstered by plenty of acoustic guitar and Holly's piano-playing. Her best and easily the strongest track in the 11-track set is 'What I Wouldn't Give,' which easily should be one of the most deep and sophisticated songs of the year in my opinion. With the possible exception of John Mayer's 'Stop The Train,' 'What I Wouldn't Give' showcases a kind of musical density that many young singer-songwriters have yet to achieve but for the 20-year old Brook, that's not a problem for her.
The weak highlight in the album is the harder 'Saturdays,' where Holly tries to rock out a little bit, but it kind of comes out as forced and it felt as if she was out of her element a bit. Staying in the ethereal, chill-out song type fits her writing and piano arrangements far much better.
Rating: 4.0 out of 5- If you find Anna Nalick's music a bit too cheerful or too formulaic, then you definitely need to take a look at Holly Brook, who is most certainly not formulaic nor exactly too cheerful. While her voice resembles Sarah McLachlan at the height of her career, Holly does bring her own style, combining her idol Joni Mitchell's iconic, grittyand hard-to-imitate and crfat sound with some early Liz Phair and Fiona Apple's darkness thrown in for good measure. It makes for a very interesting and hynoptizing sound. There have been many an artists that has tried to grasp the out of the box musical style of Joni Mitchell and have failed. But for Holly, we think she's got it. And if allowed, instead of being the Generation Y answer to Sarah, she can become the answer to a bigger legend, Joni Mitchell. This is a CD for those drives on say...US Route 231 heading out of West Lafayette, Indiana north to Crown Point or I-65 south towards Indianapolis.
Alan Ho is the chief head of Musiqtone. If you agree, disagree, or want to say something to him, please contact him at alanho@musiqtone.com.
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