Norah Jones is still in fine voice on her new album, “The Fall,” but the songs could use some work.

"The Fall," Norah Jones (Blue Note)

In 2002, Norah Jones became a quiet sensation. Her debut album "Come Away With Me" proved her to be a rare singer who understood subtlety and nuance amongst a field of pop divas who sounded as if they were gargling on key and sang every innocuous line in every bland ditty as if they were begging for a seat for their child on the last lifeboat on the Titanic. Jones deserved every sale of the 10 million-plus that "Come Away With Me" racked up.

However, when Jones' third album, "Not Too Late," appeared it was obvious that she wanted not just to be a terrific singer, but also a songwriter. The trend has continued with Jones' new album "The Fall" on which Jones has written or co-written every song.

It's an unfortunate thing that singers feel incomplete unless they're singing their own music, because, while Jones is an excellent vocalist, she's a fairly weak songwriter. It was interpreting the songs of Jones' compatriots, Jesse Harris and Lee Alexander, that gave Jones her strongest work. Granted, some of those songs were collaborations with Jones (and Harris collaborates on two songs here), but the tracks on "The Fall" seem particularly uninspired.

There are bright moments. The opening cut and first single "Chasing Pirates" is light and seductive. "Stuck," co-written when Okkervil River's Will Sheff, pits Jones against instrumentation that's a little more raw than we're used to, and "December" is pretty and simple enough to have been an outtake from one of Jones' first two discs.

However, most of "The Fall" is so lackluster that your mind has wandered away long before you notice the interesting parts.

"Time Stands Still," Chris Smither (Signature Sounds)

Chris Smither is probably still best known from Bonnie Raitt's 1972 cover of Smither's "Love Me Like a Man." But after some "next-Dylan" talk, a long bout of alcoholism and a disappearance from the music scene, Smither re-emerged as a far better singer, guitarist and songwriter than he had been.

"Time Stands Still" continues Smither's winning streak. Like his past two albums, Smither's gentle raspy voice and expert fingerstyle guitar are magical whether delivering originals or a Bob Dylan or Mark Knopfler cover.

Smither may be the most dependably great artist working today.

Wayne Bledsoe may be reached at 865-342-6444 or bledsoe@knews.com. He is also the host of "All Over the Road" midnight Saturdays to 4 a.m. Sundays on WDVX-FM.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
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