Picking Up the Pieces

Released in 2015, Picking Up the Pieces serves as a spiritual successor to Jewel's 1995 debut, Pieces of You. Produced by Jewel herself, the album was recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studio A with a live band, aiming for the same raw, 'captured-in-the-moment' energy of her earliest work. The record features several songs that had been staples of her live sets for over a decade but had never been studio-recorded, such as 'Carnivore' and 'His Pleasure Is My Pain.' Sonically, it leans heavily into Americana and traditional folk, featuring a high-profile collaboration with Dolly Parton on 'My Father’s Daughter.' Critics noted the album's departure from her previous country-pop efforts, praising the return to her 'coffeehouse' roots and the technical prowess of her vocal performance. It stands as a definitive late-career statement on artistic independence and emotional honesty.