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Norah Jones’ solo albums have always been reliable, well-crafted collections that never disappoint though never really take any risks, either. Listeners know what to expect: an album full of soft, mostly slow piano pop with intricate melodies and good songwriting without much deviation from the formula. That is, until Jones teamed up with Danger Mouse for her most experimental album, 2012’s Little Broken Hearts.
For the follow up album, Day Breaks, Jones returns to the jazz roots that were strongest in her 2002 debut, Come Away With Me. It is in fact the jazziest album Jones has recorded, sounding straight out of a smoky lounge. Slinky upright bass and Jones’s sultry voice open the album on “Burn.” It is the perfect ambiance for the mysterious song. “The plot begins with you and me in dark-lit rooms,” she sings, backed my music that is dark and enticing.
Slow piano crooners like “It’s a Wonderful Time for Love” and the cover of Horace Silver’s “Peace” show Jones in her element. Her silky voice and soft inflection soothe with their subtle beauty. Day Breaks tells stories of love, heartache, and loss, both introspective and in third-person narratives. In the title track, Jones sings of the loneliness of isolation. “Find a place to call your own,” she sings. “No need to roam around the rooms that once made up a home.” In “Tragedy,” Jones sings of a man’s struggle with alcoholism. “He gave them up just to fill his cup. Every sip would make him feel alive,” she sings.
“Flipside” is one of the album’s only upbeat tracks, a soulful number that would have fit nicely on Little Broken Hearts. Swirling organ and a propulsive bass groove drive the song as Jones sings about self-actualization. “I finally know who I’m supposed to be. My mind was locked but I’ve found the key,” she sings.
After her collaboration with Danger Mouse stretched her as a musician and songwriter, Norah Jones returns to her comfort zone with her sixth solo album. Day Breaks is an homage to Jones’s jazz influences, a timeless collection of soothing jazz that will delight fans of her early work.
