Picking Up the Pieces

by Jewel

Overview

Picking Up the Pieces contains a not-so-subtle allusion to the title of Jewel's 1995 debut Pieces of You. Twenty years later, the singer/songwriter is acknowledging how she's strayed from the folky fragility of her beginnings and is now ready to reconnect with her roots, going so far as to sign with folk label Sugar Hill for Picking Up the Pieces. Over the course of this hour-long effort, Jewel does find some space for guests -- Rodney Crowell shows up on "It Doesn't Hurt Right Now," Dolly Parton on "My Father's Daughter" -- and there are gentle accouterments like moaning sitars, full rhythm sections, and gliding pianos, all arrangements that are felt more than heard. Despite these gentle touches, Picking Up the Pieces feels unadorned but not necessarily simple. Often, it's possible to feel the weight of the two decades dividing Pieces of You and Picking Up the Pieces, usually in the loss of Jewel's naivete. On her debut, she felt youthful and instinctive, but on this, her 12th album, she relies on craft, sculpting the songs so they recall a younger version of her. This tactic has its drawbacks -- usually lyrical, with the "you like to read scientific magazines like Vanity Fair/there was a well-written article about serotonin in there" on the sweetly cynical "Plain Jane" typifying her heavy-handed touch -- but melodically she's a stronger writer now than she was then and a better recordmaker, too. All those naive rough edges were ingratiating on Pieces of You, but they'd seem affected on a mature Jewel, so her decision to return to the form but not the sensibility of her earlier music is what makes Picking Up the Pieces a successful neo-comeback. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	09/11/2015
Label:	Sugar Hill
UPC:	0888072378049
Rank:	85033

Tracks

1. Love Used to Be
2. A Boy Needs a Bike
3. Everything Breaks
4. Family Tree
5. It Doesn't Hurt Right Now
6. His Pleasure Is My Pain
7. Here When Gone
8. The Shape of You
9. Plain Jane
10. Pretty Faced Fool
11. Nicotine Love
12. Carnivore
13. My Father¿¿¿s Daughter
14. Mercy

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jewel   Primary Artist
Rodney Crowell   Primary Artist
Dolly Parton   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

David Lee   Composer
Lisa Carver   Composer
Dan Couch   Composer
Kip Moore   Composer
Jewel Murray   Composer
Brett James   Composer
Rodney Crowell   Composer
Dallas Davidson   Composer