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CD review: Try a little more edge, Norah

NORAH JONES: THE FALL (BLUE NOTE) **1/2

By CURTIS ROSS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 19, 2009

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How does Norah Jones mend a broken heart? On "The Fall," she jettisons her old band and hooks up with a new producer.

Jones parted company with longtime bassist-boyfriend Lee Alexander prior to making "The Fall," and apparently the rest of The Handsome Band, which backed her on her first three albums, went to him in the split.

Jacquire King, who's engineered for Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon and Tom Waits, was brought in, presumably to toughen up the sound. Of course Jones was as likely to make a hard rock record as she was to pen lyrics dripping with vitriol. Even a song with as provocative a title as "You Ruined Me" sounds as if it's delivered while reclining on the divan, not sobbing on the floor.

The shifts are more subtle, in keeping with a woman who could be credited with (or blamed for) reinventing soft-rock for the '00s. Guitars occasionally buzz here, but they buzz tastefully.

But if "The Fall" isn't particularly exciting, it is enjoyable, Jones' hazy, pillow-talk vocals spooning the melodies, while King's production adds just enough of an edge to hold off the Sandman.

Besides, Jones is at her best on ballads and mid-tempo stuff, the highlight being "Stuck," co-written with Will Sheff of Okkervil River. The Ryan Adams co-write, "Light as a Feather," doesn't fare as well, with only Jones' languid vocals to recommend it.

Download this: "Stuck"

CDs are rated on a scale of zero to four stars.