Like Cassandra Wilson, interpretive singer Holly Cole understands that a pop standard doesn't have to be a song written before President Kennedy was elected. On 1995's Temptation, Cole cannily gave Tom Waits' oeuvre a woman's touch; on Dark Dear Heart, this cover girl lends sultry minimalism to nuggets ranging from Lennon and McCartney's "I've Just Seen a Face" to Joni Mitchell's "River" to "You Want More," a sinuous Sheryl Crow composition.

Other tracks arrive courtesy of lesser-known tunesmiths. "Onion Girl" sounds like a lost Pretenders single but is credited to songwriters Laura Harding and Jeff Hull; Harding also co-wrote the delicate "Make It Go Away," with Cole's pianist, Aaron Davis. Ultimately, though, it's Cole's vocals that define the album; avoiding both stiff reverence and kitsch, she consistently proves that delivering a lyric is as much a creative art as writing one. (RS 774)

ELYSA GARDNER