She combines traditional singing with hefty thigh slaps, finger pops, whistling and human beat-box effects. She takes the occasional turn on the mayonnaise tub, too, thumping out rhythms that reveal the influence of jazz on her work. Cole is in a dark place, all right, but it turns out to be a riveting spot. Interviewed by phone three weeks later, Cole is as intense as her best songs. They're just so sad, so haunting.
Sad songs are more lasting, more beautiful.
Happiness is transitory and smaller. Sadness seems like a big ocean. In her music, Cole draws deeply from her family experiences. Her songs are liberally sprinkled with references to the environment she came to know through her mother, an artist, and her father, a biology professor. My father always discussed things in a biological or evolutionary way.