Norah Jones - The Fall
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Norah JonesEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Published: 2009-11-20
CD Release Date: 2009-11-17
Music Label: Blue Note Records
Soundtracks:
- Chasing Pirates
- Even 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
Free Music Notes for The Fall
Free Music Review: The Handsome Band is dead. Long live Norah Jones.
Hit: 5 Stars
No more man. No more band. What's a girl to do?
This is what you might want to consider upon stepping into the world of "The Fall," Norah Jones' 4th album. After splitting with her longtime boyfriend and collaborator Lee Alexander, followed by the end of her long time "Handsome Band," one would logically assume Norah would want to take some time off to decompress and get away from all of this...right?
Fortunately for her fans, that's just not how Norah works. Instead of grinding to a halt, she ramped up her musical output more than ever, collaborating with artists like Q-Tip and old friend Jesse Harris, refining her guitar chops in the New York underground club circuit with yet another underground band, and last but not least...pouring her heart out writing this album, the first that was put together without Lee or the Handsome Band.
And with the Fall, we have the beautiful end result. For the first time ever, Norah is in full control of the creative, musical, and lyrical direction of this record, and it is unbelievably refreshing, for old and new fans. For those of us who thought Not Too Late was a "restrained departure" of sorts, well the kid gloves are off now. Here, you have Norah finally breaking free of her "coffeehouse chains," so to speak.
Musically, the album is a slap in the face to those who mocked her in the past by christening her as "Snorah." From the opener, "Chasing Pirates," you can hear effected guitars, piano, and a host of other electronic instruments that you would have never expected to see in a Norah Jones song. The catchy, poppy, top-40 friendly single should do wonders to get Norah onto pop stations in earnest. The new band she has put together features some who's who of indie, from drummer Joey Waronker to Smokey Hormel, to even the producer she enlisted--Jacquire King, best known for his work with Kings of Leon and Modest Mouse. You can kind of start to get a picture that Norah was going for a particular sound, and by changing the band and production to those familiar with such a sound, she ensures that she nails it. She hits tempos that you have never thought she'd dare attempt (even on an El Madmo record!) with the almost "Beautiful People"-sounding "It's Gonna Be." Just a really catchy and fresh sound that at the same time, doesn't ever sound pretentious, which is what Norah has always been successful at avoiding.
Creatively, the album follows the the "darkness" of Not Too Late by revealing itself to be a rather sad album. You get a "detached" sort of vibe from this record overall. King's echo-heavy, "spacey" production is a direct contrast from Lee's more roomy style, but it fits the mood Norah was going for perfectly...following the theme of the album, things are unclear, things are very abstract, and things are definitely in flux. The track listing definitely seems to follow an order as well, starting off relatively coy and playful with "Chasing Pirates" and "Even Though," but eventually sinking to sadness with "I Wouldn't Need You," to outright depression by the time we reach "Stuck," and finally "recovering" with Norah's trademark "final track piano solo song" with "Man of the Hour". This continues a long standing tradition for Norah to end all her records with a solo piano song. Incidentally, "Man of the Hour" also reflects the album cover, playfully stating her desire to be on her own, with her dog, rather than getting together with a man.
And in line with that, the lyrical content in this record finally allows Norah to express herself on her own. Reflecting upon it now, it might have been too obvious in the past when more than one person wrote a song on the previous records. But in this case, even when there are songs like that, you can tell it's just for musical assistance. The lyrical content in this record has one theme, and it screams out loud: "Breakup album." There are no mixed messages here, and there is definitely a flow to things. The lyrical content is also quite edgier--for example, Norah talks about physicality more openly (instead of being abstract about it), declaring "something about the way he touched me was so slow..." in "Even Though", she talks about "potheads" and "taking showers together" in "Man of the Hour," and in "It's Gonna Be" she rants on the state of the entertainment industry, declaring "Now if a princess becomes human/don't stone her on a talk show, you'll ruin". Norah also finally lets her voice rip as well, particularly on "You've Ruined Me," where she exposes what her long time fans have known all along to be a formidable vocal range.
So perfect album, right? Unfortunately, I have to dock a little bit (.25 stars) because after you hear the outtakes, you get upset. That's right--even after all this goodness, you can tell she's STILL holding back. There were two tracks recorded for this album that didn't make the cut, "Can't Stop" and "That's What I Said," and in my opinion both of these should have been added but were probably removed because they would have marked too radical of a departure for Norah. In Can't Stop, Norah practically moans that she "Can't Stop Loving You" over an '80s style glam rock musical landscape, while in "That's What I Said" she purrs coyly over an R&B style track about "sex machines" and someone "picking their nose and wiping it on the girls you like to hose and expose..." even playfully deepening her voice in a ridiculous deadpan at times. It's an incredible shame that the latter track in particular was axed, as Jacquire King noted that this was just the result of Norah and him experimenting around in their first recording session together and was "outside of where the record found its place." Count me amongst those that would be thrilled and fascinated to hear what else they cooked up at this session, because this track is unlike anything Norah has ever done before.
In spite of that, it's still incredible to have seen Norah Jones evolve from demure, polite, inoffensive songbird to a singer/songwriter and now to brash indie rock princess. This album is a wonderful addition to a discography that shows constant growth, maturity, and fearlessness as an artist, and might be her finest work yet. Don't miss out, and get this one now. 4.75/5.
The Fall Poster
Exclusive import pressing of her 2009 album includes a bonus six-track live CD. Bonus Disc Tracks; It's Gonna Be, Waiting, You've Ruined Me, Jesus, etc. (Wilco cover), Cry Cry Cry (Johnny Cash cover) and Strangers (The Kinks cover). Norah has taken a new direction on the 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. Jones enlisted several songwriting collaborators, including Ryan Adams and Okkervil River's Will Sheff, as well as her frequent partners Jesse Harris & Richard Julian. Musicians include 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) and Smokey Hormel (Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer). The first single/video is for the album's lead track 'Chasing Pirates'.Broadway & Vocalists Music CDs
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