Review Summary: More fun and natural than you might expect.
Something that may surprise a good number of people on here is that I actually enjoy classic country tunes and jazz-pop; it's good to appreciate the roots of what modern genres we listen to, and there can be a nice feeling of escapism when listening to these classic styles of music. Recently, there have been numerous revivals of the 40s/50s Sinatra-inspired traditional jazz pop sound (crooning and all), but perhaps the most notable of these newer artists is Norah Jones. While she's been making huge waves commercially with her jazzy sound since 2002's Come Away with Me, she's also never been afraid to embrace folk and country music as part of her repertoire. In fact, many of her cover songs on previous records have been of classic country musicians such as Hank Williams and John D. Loudermilk; so when we heard of a new album by her that would embrace these roots once again, you wouldn't think that it would be too surprising. But... wait... is that Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day singing with her?
Yes indeed, Foreverly is a country covers album by Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones, a project initially inspired by the two musicians' common interest in Everly Brothers (who are most likely the inspiration for the album title) and Stevie Wonder. What we get is essentially the sound of an Everly Brothers tribute album with hints of Jones' traditional jazz sound slipped in; In fact, the entire tracklist replicates the country duo's 1958 effort Songs Our Daddy Taught Us. The most fascinating aspect of the experience, however, is how there's literally no trace of Armstrong's sound with Green Day. Granted, having Green Day influences would be really bizarre and awkward for an album of country covers, but the bottom line is that Norah Jones' roots are really the ones that shine through on this album.
The reason the record is so good, similar to other acts like The Civil Wars or Simon and Garfunkel, is because of a (strikingly) strong vocal chemistry between the two singers. They very rarely sing alone, instead frequently employing beautiful harmonies and switching vocal ranges between each other subtly from song to song. The instrumentation is as traditional as ever, consisting of acoustic guitars, pianos, violin, bass, and natural drums; there's no electronic manipulation anywhere here, making the listener feels as though he or she is really listening to a record from Everly Brothers' era and not a modern replication of that era. Even the production is very spacious and filled with reverberation, as the focus is on the music and not how tight the product "has" to be. With that said though, Armstrong and Jones give typically solid performances at their instruments; both sharing guitar and piano duties, they give unique touches to this already-written material. The piano work, for example, draws from the blues scales frequently to spice up the country sound at the forefront; the guitar work, on the other hand, is dynamically varied between the electric and acoustic guitars, acoustic lines tending to be a great deal more subtle. Stuff like this is what makes the record so interesting to listen to, despite being a covers album.
When you get down to it, this isn't anything groundbreaking but rather a fun detour from its musicians' normal recording careers. It'll be interesting to see if Jones and Armstrong do anything else with this new project, but Foreverly is a nice tribute to a classic style of music. Hell, it's a lot better than what I expected out of a record of two completely opposite singers.
