‘The Fall,’ Norah Jones, PolyEast Records

Changing gears on her fourth solo disc, Norah Jones leaves behind the languid, crooning style that marked her previous releases, particularly the five-time Grammy awarded album “Come Away With Me.”

In “The Fall,” amidst topics of regret, emotional havoc and, of course, heartbreak, Jones picks up the tempo, not abruptly but enough to feel the change. The openers “Chasing Pirates” and “Even Though,” as examples, offer an upbeat excursion marked by loud, throbbing back beat, echoing guitars, and prominent bass lines.

Whereas before, a Norah Jones CD prominently featured songs with piano accompaniment, “The Fall” has a more guitar-centric sound. This is very much evident in “Youngblood,” a light but pulsing acoustic guitar-based tune that is interspersed with airy electrics.

Palm-muted rhythm guitars, meanwhile, drive “I Wouldn’t Need You,” which Jones embellishes with simple, single-note keyboard melodies. “It’s Gonna Be,” on the other hand, makes use of a swampy, funk riff that’s doubled on by the bass guitar and the Rhodes piano, while the steady thump of the drums lends a bit of rock and roll menace.

Another track, “Stuck” features twangy guitars courtesy of guitar guru Marc Ribot (of Elvis Costello and Tom Waits fame). Jones also collaborated with rock singer-songwriter Ryan Adams (also known for his acoustic guitar work) on “Light As A Feather.”

Vocally, Jones still has the same beautiful earthy pipes that work well with her new sound. She coaxes us with it all throughout the CD; pushing it to the fore in songs like “Back To Manhattan,” and the melodically charming “December” – two songs that echo her well-known efforts of yore, “Come Away With Me” and “Don’t Know Why.”

Maybe she means them to be a reminder where she came from and to where she'll head eventually.

Whatever it is, for now it’s "The Fall" that she’s offering, and we’re definitely buying.

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‘Kris Allen,’ Kris Allen, Sony Music

How does it feel to be an “American Idol” winner? To have millions want to watch and hear you sing?

Probably exhilarating and pressure-laden.

So how does one go about carrying such a heavy mantle?

For Kris Allen, it’s about giving the best that he’s got; a credo that he also applies to crafting his debut album.

A chestful of earnest pop songs, the CD is a celebratory look at life and living, as heard on the opening song “Live Like We’re Dying” which channels a hybrid of New Radicals and The Script.

With lines like, “We gotta start lookin’ at the hands of the time we’ve been given, if this is all we got, then we gotta start thinkin’/ If every second counts on the clock that’s tickin,’ gotta live like were dying,” Allen seems to be saying: Here I am, here’s what I got, and if you don’t like it, at least I gave it my best shot.

And although the “AI” champ seems a bit derivative, if not too generic, in some of the songs – sounding like Switchfoot on “Lifetime” and “The Truth,” or Maroon 5 on “Can’t Stay Away” and “Is It Over” – he at least sticks to what he knows best.

Allen reinforced the versatile musician-singer-songwriter image by co-writing most of the 13 songs here. These include the laid-back, piano-driven “I Need To Know,” and the modern pop-rock gem “Before We Come Undone.”

It is difficult living up to expectations, moreso for someone like Allen.

But as he himself sings in “Lifetime,” it takes awhile “to learn how to sing, to find my place in the world symphony, to become the melody, the man I could be.”

Based on his first try, it’s bound to be worth the wait.

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