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The new Norah Jones album is due Nov. 17, but you can hear it all now
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The phrase “eagerly awaited” is often used to describe upcoming albums; often the only people eagerly awaiting the disc in question are the band members, their families and the publicist. But Norah Jones’ fourth studio CD, “The Fall,” due out on EMI’s Blue Note Records on November 17, fits the phrase perfectly. Since arriving on the music scene with 2002’s multiple Grammy award-winning “Come Away With Me” (she took home eight little trophies), Jones has sold 36 million albums worldwide. Her three studio albums (2004’s “Feels Like Home” and 2007’s “Not Too Late” fill out the catalog) have each topped the U.S. and international charts, and all three have been certified multi-platinum; “Come Away With Me” has been certified diamond for 10 million copies sold in the U.S.
If you’re one of the literal millions who love Norah Jones’ music, you needn’t wait until the 17th to enjoy her new album. Those nice people at National Public Radio (specifically Philly-based station WXPN-FM) are streaming the album in its entirety, and it’s well worth hearing.
From the short (2:40) and endearing opening track and first single, “Chasing Pirates,” to the last of 13, the plucky “Man of the Hour, ” Jones is in great form, her lovely vocals as sultry as ever, her sense of sweet-not-saccharine melody intact, but there’s another element at work here, too. Songs like “It’s Gonna Be” and “Stuck” have more rocking rhythms and the singer/songwriter primarily perceived as a pianist plays mostly guitar.
Jones’ evolution in sound began with a new set of collaborators - songwriting partners like Ryan Adams and Okkervil River’s Will Sheff as well as her frequent partner Jesse Harris. Next came Jacquire King, a producer and engineer who has worked with Kings of Leon and Modest Mouse, among others. Jones is quoted as saying she was looking for a producer “who could take me out of my comfort zone and find the right musicians to capture what I wanted to do with this collection of songs. I got in touch with Jacquire initially because he engineered one of my favorite records of all time, Tom Waits’ ‘Mule Variations.’”
The next step was taking advantage of a new set of players, which included some heavy hitting session men like drummers Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M.) and James Gadson (Bill Withers, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock), keyboardist James Poyser (Erykah Badu, Al Green, the Roots’ house band on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon”), and guitarists Marc Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello) and Smokey Hormel (Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer). The players bring some new muscle to the music. As Jones says, “I knew I wanted to play with grooves more than I have on previous albums.”
The end result isn’t going to shock Jones’ current fans - the shift to a deeper groove isn’t drastic and there are plenty of quiet storms, like the wistful “Back to Manhattan” and the rueful “You Ruined Me,” that fit the previous template. But “The Fall” builds on Jones’ very real talents in a way that’s rare for a major artist four albums into a career.
Perhaps it’s the company Jones keeps that keeps things fresh. Since 2007, she has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Herbie Hancock, Talib Kweli, Willie Nelson, Q-Tip, Irma Thomas and even Andy Samberg’s comedy troupe The Lonely Island. An artist who embraces the digital media world, Jones appeared as a flagship artist on Apple’s GarageBand music-making program in a tutorial on how to perform her song, “Thinking About You.” And she was the surprise guest performer at a recent Apple press conference where it was announced that her “Come Away With Me” would be one of the first albums to be released in the iTunes LP format, a feature that adds multiple visual elements - live videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, photos, etc. - to an iTunes purchase.
The video for “Chasing Pirates,” which was shot in Jones’ hometown of New York City, was directed by Rich Lee, who has worked on the visual effects for all three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. Click here for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the video; you’ll get a peek at Jones’ dark, puckish tresses and learn that, yes, there’s a Johnny Depp obsession at work in the song.
Jones has also announced a number of TV appearances to coincide with the launch of “The Fall”
November 11 - CBS Late Show With David Letterman
November 18 - The Colbert Report
November 16 - ABC Good Morning America
November 23 - The View
other Norah Jones listening sessions on NPR
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