Norah Jones

The Fall

Blue Note Records

Rating: 3.5/5

Norah Jones is often unfairly pushed to the side by critics as a Starbucks artist, as wallpaper that hangs in the background at suburban dinner parties. But Jones' raging talent underneath her mainstream accessibility has always been burning fiercely, and perhaps never as bright­ly as on this, her fourth record. Dispensing with her much-mimicked vocal airiness for a more robust texture, she delves fully into country mode, with pianos rarely to the fore, replaced instead by other keys and guitars. Lyrically, this is pretty much a 'we-broke-up-go-screw-yourself' record, peppered with hurt, defiance and sadness.

Download: 'You've Ruined Me', 'Chasing Pirates', 'Tell Your Mama'