On this, her third studio album, Jolie Holland ranges far and wide, adding to her unique take on folk and country and jazz that other distinctly American articulation, rock n roll. “I love rock and roll, but I think it was hard for me to trust its motives until now,” says Jolie Holland. No longer, for the Living and the Dead has some truly rowdy moments. Interspersed between the ephemeral repose that defined her earlier work are songs that are as musically immediate as they are emotionally complex. With guest appearances from M. Ward (My Morning Jacket, She & Him) and Marc Ribot (Elvis Costello, Tom Waits), the Living and the Dead is Holland’s most revealing and expansive work yet.