''Picking Up the Pieces'' is the twelfth studio album from American singer-songwriter Jewel, released on September 11, 2015, through

Sugar Hill Records Sugar Hill Records is an American bluegrass and Americana record label. It was founded in Durham, North Carolina in 1978 by Barry Poss and David Freeman, the owner of County Records and Rebel Records. Poss acquired full control of Sugar Hil ...

. Self-produced, the album is said to be a bookend to her 1995 debut album, '' Pieces of You''.

Background and writing

The announcement for the album came on July 1, 2015, as part of Jewel's monthly "EDA INCLUSIVE" series on her website. In the same post she describes the writing process:

"My focus for this CD was to forget everything I have learned about the music business the last 20 years and get back to what my bones have to say about songs and words and feeling and meaning...It took real effort to clear my thoughts and have no rules and just create - going back to my folk/American roots that I began with."

The album features new material as well as songs Jewel has been playing live since the mid-nineties but never recorded. One of the new tracks, "My Father's Daughter," is a collaboration with

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

Production

Jewel originally hired Paul Worley to produce the album, but he backed out about a week before rehearsals insisting that she produce it herself and suggesting she will thank him later for the idea. Jewel wanted to capture a live sound for the album. Portions of it were recorded during a set at The Standard in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, while others were captured during a live performance in front of friends in Nashville's historic RCA Studio A. They were done in one take, with "no overdubs, no layering tracks, no auto-tune or tricks," according to Jewel. She describes the overall sound as "minimal, focusing on the singing, lyric, and emotion." Jeff Balding, who engineered Jewel's 2001 album '' This Way'', is credited with engineering the full band songs on the album, while the acoustic tracks were engineered by Erik Hellerman. The entire album was mixed by

Gary Paczosa Gary Paczosa is an audio engineer, producer and A&R rep for Sugar Hill Records. He has been nominated 11 times for the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. He is best known for working with Alison Krauss and Dolly Parton numer ...

Release

The album's lead single, "My Father's Daughter," was "released" on August 14, 2015. ''Picking Up the Pieces'' was released on September 11, 2015, through

Critical reception

''Picking Up the Pieces'' has received mostly positive reviews from music critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

rated the album three and a half out of five stars and states: "her decision to return to the (''Pieces of You'') form but not the sensibility of her earlier music is what makes Picking Up the Pieces a successful neo-comeback." Marcus Floyd from ''Renowned for Sound'' rated the album four and a half out of five stars and claims: "Jewel’s voice hasn’t been heard this raw for 20 years, it shines throughout the entire album," and that "Jewel has successfully returned to her roots, and her fans will thank her for it."

Background and writing

Production

Release

Critical reception

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References