Norah Jones Enlists Ryan Adams, Tom Waits' Band For New Album

Norah Jones has recruited Ryan Adams, Okkervil River's Will Sheff and some of the vital members of Tom Waits' Mule Variations band for her upcoming fourth studio album, due out in November. The LP will be Jones' first since 2007's Not Too Late. Both Adams and Sheff are listed among the songwriter collaborators, as well as Jessie Harris, who penned Jones' Grammy-winning 2002 hit "Don't Know Why." Jones' upcoming album also finds the songstress teaming with producer Jacquire King, who previously worked with Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon and Ryan Adams.

"I knew I wanted to try some different things on this album," Jones said. "I'd been playing with the same musicians for a long time. We're all still friendly and I hope we play together again, but it felt like a good time to work with new people and experiment with different sounds." Jones said she opted to collaborate with Jacquire King because he was the engineer on one of Jones' favorite albums, Tom Waits' Mule Variations. King arranged for Jones to share the studio with musicians like Joey Waronker (Beck's frequent drummer), but the big names among Jones' new band are guitarists Marc Ribot and Smokey Hormel, both of whom featured on Waits' Mule Variations.

Unlike previous albums, Jones wrote the songs for her upcoming album on an acoustic guitar instead of a piano. "It just felt more natural for me to play it on these songs," Jones said of the change. "I knew I wanted to play with grooves more than I have on previous albums. Some of these new songs lent themselves to having driving rhythms underneath." More info regarding Jones' latest LP is expected soon.

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Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

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