Uber-popular female songstress Norah Jones has always been a misunderstood figure. The daughter of Ravi Shankar was unfairly pigeonholed to a life-sentence of Jazz piano crooning due to the mega success that was her 2002 debut Come Away With Me, even though that isn't who she is or even close to what she's about. Not content with being deemed the next Diana Krall, Jones has done everything she possibly can to dig herself out of that pigeonhole, be it starting bands influenced by Outlaw Country (The Little Willies) or Punk trio's (El Madmo) and slowly moving her solo work out of the piano bars and into Rock concert halls.

For her new album The Fall, Jones enlisted big time Rock producer Jacquire King (Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon, Tom Waits) to add heft to the proceedings. What transpires on The Fall isn't quite what you'd call a full-blown Rock album, but it definitely is getting further away from what helped her sell over 18 million albums over a half-decade ago. The Fall is a breakup album of sorts for Jones, who parted ways with her ex-boyfriend/bassist Lee Alexander and the songs here run the gamut of being melancholy ("I Wouldn't Need You," "You've Ruined Me") and amusing (the cutesy album closer "Man of the Hour" which trumpets her dog as being the best male in her life). Most of the album is focused more around guitars than piano and even when Jones decides to bring ivories to the proceedings, it's based around her Wurlitzer electric, such as the opening "Chasing Pirates" and the foot stomper "It's Gonna Be." Fuddy-duddies that cling to their Diana Krall records and bitch that Jones hasn't made anything worthwhile since her debut need not bother with The Fall, but those that have appreciated her transformation into a full-fledged artist will find plenty to admire here.