Norah Jones's low-power trio with pals Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper seems to have more of her attention than her solo career of late, with this full album following an E.P. out for Christmas. Featuring laid-back guitar-bass-drums-harmonies grooves, all three share the writing and lead vocals, plus add some well-chosen covers from the roots world and the edges of punk. It's the hobby band every star wants, where they don't have to lead and can just have fun. All three handle drum duties on various tunes, depending on who's doing the lead vocals, and Jones only bothers to dig out the keyboards on one track.
They came up with some pretty good songs for the album, the best of them Dobson's "You And Me," and another she wrote with label boss Don Was, "The Great Romancer," which also featured on the Christmas EP. Jones has her cowboy boots out for "You Don't Know," a loose ballad with twangy guitar. Most of the tracks feature a late-night vibe, slow and steady and dark, and they bring that same feel to like-minded tunes by Paul Westerberg ("It's A Wonderful Lie"), Concrete Blonde ("Joey") and Dolly's "The Grass Is Blue." The version of Tom Petty's "Angel Baby" is a little too easy-going, but the rest all have just enough edge.
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