Norah Jones – The Fall

Released in 2009, this album is a wee bit departure, here and there, if all you know of Jones’ output is Come Away With Me. She’s still got that sound, she’s just freed herself up to some new styles and sounds. Some go so far as to call it her rock album, or her soul effort… I Don’t Know Why (ahem), honestly, and it makes me wonder if those folks even listened to the whole album. There’s still lots of the usual here, it still sounds like her, it’s just that in some spots there are more facets…

I’ll let Wiki tell you:

Prior to the album’s release Jones’ official website stated that she “has taken a new direction on The Fall, experimenting with different sounds and a new set of collaborators, including Jacquire King, a noted producer and engineer who has worked with Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, and Modest Mouse among others. Jones enlisted several songwriting collaborators, including Ryan Adams and Okkervil River’s Will Sheff, as well as her frequent partner Jesse Harris. King also helped Jones put together a new group of musicians to perform on the album, including drummers Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M.) and James Gadson (Bill Withers), keyboardist James Poyser (Erykah Badu, Al Green), and guitarists Marc Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello), Smokey Hormel (Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer)”, Lyle Workman, (Bourgeois Tagg, film composer for Superbad), and Peter Atanasoff (Rickie Lee Jones, Tito and Tarantula). The cover artwork for the album features a portrait by photographer Autumn de Wilde.

Lots of tracks to love, here, but the one that stuck out for me was It’s Gonna Be, in all its bluesy thumpy glory. Also the last track, Man Of The Hour is fun… And there I go, I shouldn’t pick tracks. It’s all good.

In Sum:

Buy with confidence, knowing it’s definitely quality work. I think it’s great she didn’t allow herself stay type-cast.