Norah Jones (Blue Note)
The collapse of her romance with longtime musical collaborator Lee Alexander seems to have spurred Norah Jones into a rethink.
Gone are the after-hours piano-bar ballads that defined her first three albums; in their place is a warm, shadowy pop-soul sound, which suits her chocolatey voice.
The songwriting is a little spotty, collaborations with Shearwater’s Will Sheff and Ryan Adams yielding few dividends. Even so, this is a laudable reinvention.
WILL FULFORD-JONES
