It would be easy to describe Paula Cole as ‘just another 90s singer-songwriter’. Every biography mentions her association with the Lilith Fair festivals, that zeitgeist of 90s new wave feminism that faded as quickly as it came (attempts to re-create the Lilith Fair hype only a few years ago fell embarrassingly limp). And of course, we can’t forget that this is the woman whose voice opened up every episode of the 90s cultural phenomenon (might be a bit strong a word, but it was certainly popular) that was Dawson’s Creek. While her ambitious creativity was rarely met with commercial success (Where Have All the Cowboys Gone and I Don’t Want to Wait remain her sole Top 10 singles in the States), Cole is an artist in the truest sense. Over the course of her 20 years in the music industry Cole has followed her muse before all else. Where her contemporaries have often chosen to play it safe (Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow) rather than tip the applecart, Cole has proven herself a true successor to the likes of Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, and Kate Bush in her willingness to eschew convention for creative growth.
Growing up in the small town of Rockport, Massachusetts, Paula Cole was the youngest daughter of a elementary school teacher and a scientist. Cole’s family were musical, her father playing in a polka band and family sing alongs encouraged. After surviving the angst of adolescence and high school, Cole followed her musical dreams to the Berklee College of Music studying jazz singing and improvisation. However, studying the works of great composers like Gershwin was paralleled by Cole’s own burgeoning songwriting. Cole found herself at a crossroads: a record contract with a jazz label or pursue her own craft and musical vision. Cole took the plunge, and in 1993 signed with Imago records to begin recording her debut album. While Cole wanted to produce her own album from the get-go, the record label felt it better for her to work alongside someone more ‘experienced’ and the reigns were handed to Kevin Killen. Killen had had a hand in many a great record (and continues to), and was a good fit for the restless and introspective Cole. ‘Harbinger’ was truly a departure from Cole’s jazz studies although remnants of her training would emerge briefly in song structures. Like it’s stark album cover depicting a huddled Cole in a too-big trench coat (this is the better known cover anyway – there were two), ‘Harbinger’ is an album of shadow, introspection, and emotional catharsis. From: https://matsmusicblog.wordpress.com/tag/paula-cole/
