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Jones returns with fourth studio album this fall...

Norah Jones To Release The Fall Nov. 17

Norah Jones' fourth studio album The Fall will hit stores November 17, following up the 2007 release, Not Too Late.

Not Too Late got some mixed reviews, as it was in some ways the first signs of departure from the formula that made her debut Come Away With Me and its follow up Feels Like Home such smash successes.  The path away from those first two records continues on The Fall.

Jones has once again written or co-written all 13 songs on the album, but she has added some new collaborators to the mix.  Jones sang a duet with Ryan Adams on his Jacksonville City Nights record.  Adams has now co-written a song "Light As A Feather" with Jones.  Jesse Harris, who wrote Jones' breakout single "Don't Know Why," has returned to write with Jones on several tracks.  Also joining Jones in the writing department are Richard Julian, Mike Martin, and Will Sheff.

In addition to writing partnerships, Jones is downplaying her familiar seat behind the piano and playing up her guitar chops.

"I’ve always written more on guitar than on piano," Jones said. "The thing that's really different this time is that I drove the rhythm more, because what I play on the guitar are rhythm parts. When I play the piano, I don’t really play rhythm, I just sort of sprinkle over the top."

Jones also made a statement with her choice of producer.  Producing legend the late Ariff Mardin was with her for the first two records.  Jones took more of a D.I.Y. approach for Not Too Late.  For The Fall, she went looking to her own record collection looking for a collaborator who could help her create the sound already in her head.

"For this record, I just had a sound in my head," said Jones. "I wanted the grooves to be more present and heavy. And I also just wanted to do something different—I’ve been hanging with the same group of musicians for a long time, and I thought it was a good time for me to work with different people and experiment a little."

She found that partner in Jacquire King, who has worked with Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon, and Tom Waits.  It's the last name in that list that brought King to Jones' attention.

"I looked for a while before I finally looked at one of my favorite records, Mule Variations by Tom Waits, to see who engineered it, and I saw Jacquire's name," said Jones.  I’m never going to sound like Tom Waits, but there are elements of that record that I wanted—it walks the balance between being beautiful and rough, and also sounding very natural." 

Here's the full tracklisting, including songwriting credits for The Fall:

1. Chasing Pirates (Norah Jones)
2. Even Though (Norah Jones/Jesse Harris)
3. Light As a Feather (Norah Jones/Ryan Adams)
4. Young Blood (Norah Jones/Mike Martin)
5. I Wouldn't Need You (Norah Jones)
6. Waiting (Norah Jones)
7. It's Gonna Be (Norah Jones)
8. You've Ruined Me (Norah Jones)
9. Back To Manhattan (Norah Jones)
10. Stuck (Norah Jones/Will Sheff)
11. December (Norah Jones)
12. Tell Yer Mama (Norah Jones/Jesse Harris/Richard Julian)
13. Man Of The Hour (Norah Jones)

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