The title of Norah Jones’ new album says it all. “Little Broken Hearts” is Jones’ fifth studio album and an clearly breakup album.

The album, produced by Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton, who has worked with U2 and Gnarls Barkley, begins with a whimsical tune called “Good Morning.”

The song is slow and melodic, but the lyrics reveal that the album was going to take me through all of the stages of her breakup. Lyrics such as, “Good morning / Why did you do it? / I couldn’t sleep / I knew you were gone,” let me know this was the introduction to her journey of a heartache.

“Say Goodbye,” the second song on the album, is surprisingly upbeat considering the context. The song begins with, “Bring me back the good old days / When you left and misbehaved,” which implies there were issues of fidelity in her past relationship.

With a slow but catchy tempo, “Little Broken Hearts” has a haunting feel to it.  

“Travelin’ On” is a song about moving on, which made it one of my favorites on the album. The combination of her velvet voice, the simple guitar and the sad violin was fantastic.

Lyrics such as “Hey I’m too weak / It’s too much to fight off / A past so strong,” makes me think she will always be drawn to this heartbreaker.

“Happy Pills” is a pleading song asking her former lover to let her go.

“Miriam” packs a strong punch. I pay a lot of attention to the lyrics, and this song names the enemy quite obviously. Lyrics such as, “Miriam / When you were having fun / In my big pretty house / Did you think twice?” stab at her enemy.  

The darkest songs of the album stood out to me, because the listener feels her pain exuding from her lyrics. This album takes the listener on a journey of heartbreak, but her pain makes for some really powerful music.

Grade: A-