OTBKB Music: Norah Jones in Transition

The past couple of years have been ones of change for Norah Jones.  She dissolved her band, worked on her guitar playing, cut her hair, split up with her boyfriend and moved back from Manhattan to Brooklyn.  So with all that going on in her life, its no wonder that her new album, The Fall, finds Norah's music in transition as well.

With The Handsome Band no longer backing up Norah, this record features an entirely different musical team.  Jacquire King, the producer this time out, has produced Tom Waits, The Kings of Leon and Modest Mouse.  The musicians include including drummers Joey Waronker and James Gadson, keyboardist James Poyser, and guitarists and Brooklynites Marc Ribot and Smokey Hormel.

What Jones, King and company have done is to edge away from the sound of Norah's previous albums toward one which is more guitar based,  has electronic elements and is mixed to be edgier.  But when all is said and done, the record is still recognizable as a Norah Jones record.

The first track to be released from The Fall is Chasing Pirates, a very infectiously poppy sounding song with an electric piano hook.  It will probably equally at home on WLTW, WPLJ and WFUV, even though it clearly different from Norah's previous work.  Fans of that previous work will like I Wouldn't Need You, December and Back to Manhattan.  Other standout tracks include Young Blood, Stuck, Tell Yer Mama and Man of the Hour.  The subject of that last song appears on the cover of The Fall along with Norah.

But the song to which I keep returning is Back to Manhattan.  It chronicles what seems to be an affair. It is melancholy and honest, and for that it ends up being the emotional heart of  The Fall.

Not everyone who has followed Norah to this point will be willing to see Norah move out of her comfort zone.  But those who do will be rewarded with hearing some good music and seeing an artist grow before their eyes.

The Fall will be released on November 17th.  NPR is currently streaming the whole album here. 

  --Eliot Wagner