Album Notes

When Seattle chanteuse Jol’e Williams played her demo tapes for friends, they exclaimed, “You’re so A.D.D.!”…And the name stuck. That’s because genres mean nothing to this unique and talented singer/songwriter and artist. One song may be dark, trippy electronica, while the next may be a simple, beautiful folk song. Then in another, she may be belting out a kinky punk-rock-like anthem to a boy who died.

Through it all, Jol’e’s haunting and eclectic voice is the glue that holds it all together. Somehow it all works, and her debut album, “100 Years of Silence,” features 14 songs with just as many emotions.

Most of the original tracks were initially recorded by Jol’e and multi-instrumentalist and partner, Mok Marquardt, in their native Seattle.

But then, Jol’e put out the call on MySpace Music to find like-minded musicians and songwriters around the world to collaborate with. Many answered the call, and those songs are featured on “100 Years of Silence.” Sometimes she contributed the lyrics, and they set them to music, such as in the title track (with Israel’s Michel Sellam of the color green), and sometimes she set other writers’ lyrics to music (as in the track “There I Go”, penned by Greg Connors, who appears on the recording as harmony vocalist). Another collaboration like this resulted in the haunting “Straitjacket”, which was written by Jesse Lewis from Florida, and has been described as a female Tom Waits tune.

The gorgeous folk song “I Wish,” which was written by Belgium’s Olivier Vanespen of Meteor, originally appeared on his MySpace page with his lead vocals. He sent the instrument tracks to Jol’e, who then dubbed in her poignant vocals (along with her young son, Nolan).

Also featured is a cover of Joseph Arthur's recent song "When I Was Running Out of Time." When Joseph heard So A.D.D.'s spunky rendition of his song, he exclaimed that it was better than his!

Producer Stan Satin, of Scared Records in Atlanta, is someone else Jol’e met online whose ears had been perked up by So A.D.D.’s unique style. He requested a disc of the songs, and immediately signed the artist to Scared Records. Additional instruments and vocals were added by Satin and his cohorts in Atlanta, resulting in the stunning debut album, “100 Years of Silence.”