CheekyChicago

Norah Jones mostly forgoes the piano in favor of a guitar and a fuller band sound on her fourth studio release, The Fall. The execution is still on the gentler side, reminiscent of what listeners have come to expect from the singer. But this time around, there’s something a bit edgier lurking underneath. This could be due in part to the album’s inspiration – Jones’ relationship and subsequent breakup with her former bass player Lee Alexander – or the fact that she worked with veteran producer Jacquire King (who has also worked with Kings of Leon).

Whatever the case, this album is a breath of fresh air – both in terms of Jones’ previous albums and the chaos of her personal life. On “Light As A Feather” (co-written by Ryan Adams), a somber, slow, jazz-tinged track, she sings, “It’s like the show is over / But we’re too scared to walk away / All for the better / Worse for the wear.”  For the most part, she runs through the gamut of emotions throughout the album, and – perhaps, fittingly – the emotions themselves are contradictory. She sounds almost spiteful and pleading on the guitar-dominated “I Wouldn’t Need You” where she begs for her lover to come back, and hopeful yet resigned to disappointment on “Waiting” as she watches love fade.

She gets a little sultry and sassy with sociopolitical commentary on “It’s Gonna Be” as she plays the Wurlitzer against persistent percussion, and imagines a better, easier situation on “Back To Mahattan,” the lesson of which seems to be that if you ignore your problems, they’ll just go away. “Tell Yer Mama” is a great song in which a jilted Jones sings, “So tell your mama I said ‘hello’ / And that she raised you too damn slow.”  The album then closes with an ode to the greatest man in Jones’ life – her dog.

At times funny, sad, but ultimately sweet, The Fall is a refreshing album. After all, they say you have to hit the bottom to gain new perspective, right?