Little Broken Hearts

Norah Jones had me from hello. The first time I heard her voice broadcast from a Sacramento jazz station, I was in love. And now, several albums later, here she is with a new album that tweaks her distinctive style a little, but still gives listeners the sultry voice and tasteful piano licks we expect from her. She’s co-written all the songs here with Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse), and they’re mostly about the struggle to get over being dumped. Though it strains credibility to think there’s a guy on this planet who would dump Jones, she knows what she’s talking about, proving that even the beautiful, the rich and the abundantly talented are unsheltered from the storms of the heart. Jones manages to avoid the clichés and claim some of this emotional terrain as her own. “It ain’t easy to stay in love when you’re tellin’ lies,” she writes in “Say Goodbye.” And in “She’s 22,” she writes: “She’s 22 and she’s lovin’ you/ and you’ll never know how it makes me blue.” Actually, in a line that naked, we listeners do know. That’s what gifted artists do; they share the pain. If you’re in misery right now, Jones can give you a little company … and sweet solace.