Norah Jones - The Fall
Rating
RIYL
The WaifsOkkervil River
John Mayer
Release Date
11/17/2009
Label
Blue Note RecordsTracklist
Chasing PiratesEven Though
Light as a Feather
Young Blood
I Wouldn’t Need You
Waiting
It’s Gonna Be
You’ve Ruined Me
Back to Manhattan
Stuck
December
Tell Yer Mama
Man of the Hour
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She is the daughter of world-renowned sitar player Ravi Shankar, her debut album won five Grammys, and the opening track to her new album, is called "Chasing Pirates," so you have to admit, she’s pretty damn cool. Norah Jones is the girl that broke hearts the world over with the acclaimed Come Away With Me in 2002, and now in her thirtieth year she has returned to the world of easy jazz and soul with The Fall.
The Fall is the follow up to her 2007 record Not Too Late and is Jones’ fourth solo album. Moving away from her acoustic-jazz roots to embrace a more progressive contemporary sound, Jones shows her songwriting has a new inspiration. Opener “Chasing Pirates” instills an image of a smoky underground jazz club that hasn’t seen an empty night since it opened. “In the message you said / you were going to bed / but I ain’t done with the night…” are lyrics that perpetuate the theme of living the best parts of long nights.
The contemporary feel is subtle in each of the tracks, in that tracks like “Even Though” and “Young Blood” could easily be Kings of Leon tracks that Norah Jones has laid down vocals for, and this is by no means a bad thing. Lyrics like, “Young blood / young bones / old ghosts / go home,” feed the contemporary progression, speaking as if moving on from past releases, while retaining the best of her style.
The Fall is also a fairly collaborative effort, with several of the tracks having borrowed experienced vocals and production values. “Light as a Feather” features Ryan Adams while Okkervill River’s Will Sheff adds influence to the latter half of the album in “Stuck” and Jesse Harris and Richard Julian appear on the morale story of the album, “Tell Yer Mama”.
Jones' latest doesn’t do anything hugely inspiring or experimental; she has stuck to what she knows - soothing vocals to heal anything broken - and it works. She shows a cheeky comedic side with album closer “Man of the Hour” to leave the listener with a feeling that they have listened to a wholly complete album. “It’s him or me / that’s what he said / but I can’t choose between a vegan and a pothead / so I choose you / because you’re sweet / and you give me lots of loving / and you eat meat…” Seriously that's what every man should strive for if its enough to impress Norah Jones.
--Sandy Powell
Comments
Minnesota
Poor Norah, no one cares about you...
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Senegal Africa
I haven't heard this yet but i saw her music video for chasing pirates at gamestop so i guess she is targeting a new demographic. I liked her first cd when it came out in high school but i always pictured her main demographic to be in their 40s.
Listening to:
fuckin african mosques (Tang na bu baax)