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Adam Davis

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Norah Jones

1 of 3

The Fall

Norah Jones is one of those rare artists who I can say releases an album and it's just expected that it will be great.

With her new album, The Fall, that statement is certainly validated.

On her fourth album since her 2002 debut she still maintains her smooth sound but there are a few changes.

With a list of new collaborators from producer, musicians and songwriting partners, The Fall finds Jones exploring other musical avenues.

She also gets up from behind her piano and plays a lot of guitar, which is an interesting change. In her words, this allowed her to control the rhythm on the songs.

In the end, the album doesn't stray too far from the sound that made her famous but there's enough change to make it interesting.

Fans of Jones' mellow vocal style and superb musical arrangements won't be disappointed.

Highlights include Light As A Feather, Waiting and You've Ruined Me.

Joss Stone

Colour Me Free!

Apparently British soul and R & B singer Joss Stone's new album was written and recorded in a week. If that's the case, it's certainly hard to tell.

She had the urge to make some music and did just that. With her retro sounds fully intact, the album sounds better than some albums artists toil over for months.

Colour Me Free evokes some of the greats who've preceded Stone, from the Stevie Wonder-influenced "Parallel Lines" to "You Got The Love", which sounds like something Whitney Houston could have recorded.

All of this with a heavy dose of the blues makes for an album that fans of this genre will really appreciate.

The album has a number of guest appearances from the retro -- Jeff Beck, and Sheila E -- to modern contemporaries like Nas and Jamie Hartman.

While, in my opinion, the album could have dropped a couple of the ballads, it should still please fans of Joss Stone.

Highlights include Free Me, Parallel Lines and Govermentalist.

Stereos

Stereos

As seen on the MuchMusic reality show Disband, we now have the debut album from Stereos. Mostly pop music with elements of hip hop, they certainly aren't my type of music.

There's just way too much pop involved for my liking but, to be fair, they really aren't catering to my tastes.

With a sound that make bands like Simple Plan seem heavy, they'll surely win over a young teen or tween audience.

But beyond my personal musical preferences, Stereos are quite good at what they do and should make their mark on the music scene. As long as they mature with their fans, they should stick around for a while.

Fans of the band who pick up the deluxe version of their album will have the option of getting a new song sent to them every month for a year, which is a very interesting marketing idea.

If you're a fan, don't forget Stereos will be playing at the Riverview Arts Centre tomorrow.

Highlights of the album include Addicted, Turn It Up and Jet Black Cadillac.

* Adam Davis is an avid music fan. His column appears weekly in Life & Times.