Pre-release hype has a way of making mountains out of mole hills, so it shouldn't be too surprising that Norah Jones' upcoming "rock" album, Fall, isn't much of a departure for the whisper-quiet songstress. The album, which is streaming on NPR's Web site in advance of its Nov. 17 release, pairs Jones with session players and a producer known for their work with artists like Kings of Leon and R.E.M., and boasts a more cynical set of songs, but does little to mask Jones' intrinsic, good-natured jazziness. She still sounds more likely to bake sugar cookies than put sugar in a gas tank.
The album's two, blog-baiting songwriting collaborations aren't particular departures, either. "Light as a Feather," co-written by Ryan Adams, rides a brooding cello, but doesn't pack much heat. Okkervil River's Will Sheff leaves more of a stamp on "Stuck," imagining Jones as one of those disillusioned starlets he so often writes of, glued to her bar seat, dreaming of nothing but going home alone. Black Sheep Boy fanatics will be amused by how Sheff even works in a reference to a stone, but despite its rickety, Okkervil River-esque twang, the song has been fed through the same mid-tempo hush machine as every other track on the record.
Fall works fine as another Norah Jones album, but if the singer really wants to make a bold impression next time around, she's going to have to take far greater risks than she does hereor at the very least, turn up the volume at least a dial or two.
