Kevin Bronson on October 4th, 2011

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Jolie Holland’s distinctive vocals, dusky and deep-throated, are a deal-breaker for some – is the 36-year-old Texas native swallowing or singing? But in timbre and phrasing, they are well-suited for her barroom folk and its point-blank take on affairs of the heart. Her fifth album “Pint of Blood” (out this summer on Anti-) runs red with rapt balladry such as “All Those Girls” and “The Devil’s Sake” and mixes in some country stomp as well. As with her standout 2008 album “The Living and the Dead,” it suggests that Holland’s voice is a taste worth acquiring.

||| Live: Jolie Holland plays an early show tonight at the Bootleg Theater.