The Fall (Norah Jones album)

Background and production

Prior to the album's release Jones' official website stated that she "has taken a new direction on 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 among others. Jones enlisted several songwriting collaborators, including Ryan Adams and Okkervil River’s Will Sheff, as well as her frequent partner Jesse Harris. King also helped Jones put together a new group of musicians to perform on the album, including 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), Smokey Hormel (Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer)", Lyle Workman, (Bourgeois Tagg, film composer for Superbad), and Peter Atanasoff (Rickie Lee Jones, Tito and Tarantula). The cover artwork for the album features a portrait by photographer Autumn de Wilde.

Singles and promotion

To promote the release of the album Jones appeared on:

Reception

The Fall received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 73 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" based on 22 reviews.

Billboard gave the album a score of 83 out of 100 and stated that "Jones ditches the gentle piano-playing of her previous work and rises to a new level of creative boldness." The New York Times gave it a favorable review and called it "the sonic and emotional expansion [Jones'] music needed, and it's tied to some of her most unguarded songs." Uncut gave it four stars out of five and said that "The emotional imprint... moves beyond the pining, wistful tones that are [Jones'] trademark in favor of Sex And The City scenarios bursting with heartbreak, regret and emotional devastation." Q also gave it four stars out of five and praised the album for its "copper-bottomed classics". musicOMH likewise gave it four stars out of five and said, "Less predictable was her now clear desire to take risks and step off the all-too-well-forged path of safe, agreeable background music. Instead, on The Fall Norah Jones chooses to defy categorization." Hot Press gave it a score of four out of five with the header: "Easy listening princess goes indie-goth." The Boston Globe gave it a favorable review and stated that Jones "seems liberated from the expectations of what her music is supposed to sound like, and the album is flush with fresh production ideas and a varied sonic palette."

Filter gave the album a score of 78% and stated that "unlike Not Too Late, Jones’ latest decision to ditch her keys for strings is a poor one. In a way, she has indeed found a different beat to groove to, and if anyone can play in a piano bar without a piano, it would certainly be Norah Jones." Paste gave it a score of 7.6 out of 10 and stated that "Jones is clearly comfortable with where she’s arrived, and is ready to throw open the doors for a party." Spin gave it a score of seven out of ten and said that the album "has been billed as Norah Jones' rock album. In fact, it's something even more surprising: a hot-blooded soul record from the queen of the even keel."

Other reviews are average or mixed: The Austin Chronicle gave the album three stars out of five and said it "offers many new sides to Jones while remaining comfortably close to the jazz diva many adore." Yahoo! Music UK gave it six stars out of ten and stated that "If the hardcore fanbase feel a blanch coming on, this isn't all wilful eclecticism gone mad. [Jacquire] King's work is The Fall's unifying factor that keeps it cohesive." Mojo gave it three stars out of five and said that "The wrong kind of sonic adventure undermines about half the songs." The Guardian also gave it three stars out of five and stated that "Jones's cashmere voice sounds more polite than ever, creating an overriding impression of a nice girl keeping dirty company." Under the Radar gave it five stars out of ten and called it "intelligent, tasteful, and well-executed music. But it ain't rock 'n' roll, not even a little, and damn Jones for trying to pretend that it is."

Personnel

Production