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Some observation of the circumstances at this particular junction in Norah Jones's career and
life goes some way to explaining what is, on The Fall, quite a change in style since the coffee table days
of her 20-million-selling 2002 debut Come Away With Me.
Having split with
beau and bassist Lee Alexander, her maturation as a singer-songwriter and musical interpreter, as well as her penchant for
quirky side projects - including Puss n Boots, The Little Willies and
Sloppy Joannes - all point to the inevitability of Ravi Shankar's daughter straying from the immediacy of
another Feels Like Home. Thus it proves on her first album in three years.
The edgier musical company she now keeps includes Ryan
Adams, Okkervil River's Will Sheff, Jesse
Harris and producer Jacquire King, whose production credits
include Tom Waits. They go some way to explaining the bittersweet mood this time round.
The Fall is a slow-burner, naturally; Jones's
adoration of the ballad as a means of communication has remained. �But this flickering
flame casts a solemn�glow that contrasts sharply from the inviting
warmth emanating from her earlier work, especially on that Grammy-winning debut. It's as though the dinner party
her earlier records soundtracked has ended and the shadows of night have set in.
First impressions are deceiving, as Chasing Pirates sounds and
feels instantly engaging, a surefire candidate for radio play. But this time traditional piano has a less prominent role,
allowing minimalist guitar work, with varying levels of
processing, to steal the instrumental spotlight. The cool, light-as-air jazz-popiness has
given way to brooding, understated... alt-rock.
Concurrently, while Jones's voice is as beautifully dulcet as ever,
she now speaks with a rawness lacking from her earlier recordings.
Waiting is a wrought with pessimism: "If I wait, it doesn't mean you
will return." That's a far cry from Turn Me On, from her debut, that expresses
yearning from a much more positive perspective.
Best this time round are the unexpected musical turns of phrase that transform these songs.
Standout track You've Ruined Me, for instance, is a simple country-style waltz built on four
repeated chords and some poignant harmonizing in the chorus. But the
latter of the two refrains unexpectedly shifts to a far more menacing mood,
calling to mind the canon of Fiona Apple.
Her potential was immediately obvious on Come Away With Me. Less predictable was
her now clear desire to take risks and step off the all-too-well-forged path of safe, agreeable
background music. Instead, on The Fall Norah Jones chooses to defy categorisation.
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