Holly Cole

Holly Cole's take on moody standards and noir-ish torch songs have been embraced by alternative rockers, but her sound goes all the way back to such dark '50s canaries as Julie London and June Christy. Cole's slow, dreamy piano vamps and Cool vocal stylings create a dark whirlpool of emotion around standards like "Losing My Mind" and "Don't Smoke in Bed" -- think of a modernistic Shirley Horn who grew up on R&B instead of jazz. Cole concentrates on standards, but her album Temptation is an excellent peek into Tom Waits' considerable catalogue and proves to Generation X that good songs gain new life when interpreted by intelligent artists. If you have a date coming over, put on Diana Krall; but if the evening doesn't turn out well, it is Holly Cole who will ease the soul.