Blue Note/EMI

Bad for her, good for us: Norah Jones has always made her most moving music when singing naked songs of loss, and if Little Broken Hearts’ title isn’t enough of a clue, then perhaps the urgency in the lyrics of “Happy Pills” makes it more obvious: “Trying to pick up the pace/ Trying to make it so I never see your face again,” she sings, and she sounds like she means it. With Danger Mouse handling the production, co-writing and instrumental parts, Little Broken Hearts – Jones’ fifth solo album – bears an edginess that, except for a few non-starters, is miles away from the cozy, jazz-informed balladry of the singer/songwriter’s earliest work. Think of Little Broken Hearts as Norah Jones’ update of Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks.