mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
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come away with me feels like home
Come Away With Me Released: 2002 Rating: 7/10 Track listing: 1. Don’t Know Why/ 2. Seven Years/ 3. Cold Cold Heart/ 4. Feelin’ The Same Way/ 5. Come Away With Me/ 6. Shoot The Moon/ 7. Turn Me On/ 8. Lonestar/ 9. I’ve Got To See You Again/ 10. Painter Song/ 11. One Flight Down/ 12. Nighingale/ 13. The Long Day Is Over/ 14. The Nearness of You Norah Jones came out of nowhere, at least for me. Usually the press talks about new, interesting artists months before the album is released. Stumbling and climbing over each other, eager to be first to find the next star. Everybody seemed to miss Norah, though (strange, since her father is the famous Indian musician Ravi Shankar). She released her debut album in February 2002 and it took almost a year until the hype took off. And took off, it did. Everybody seemed to love her music. The soft, mellow jazz influences and the tender, intimate pop songs had something for everyone. Jones also offered something quite unusual to the public, a female artist that didn’t take her clothes off, but relied on her music and trusted it would be enough. The spare, laidback piano-arrangements are perfect for slow, rainy nights with red wine as company, but may easily become simple background music as it fails to keep your interest all the way through. There isn’t a single stinker here, but all songs sounds a bit too similar to make it a real classic. She has every chance and definitively the talent to make a classic album, though and Come Away With Me sure has given her the financial and artistic possibility to create a masterpiece. The record company must have big faith and hopes in the follow up, since this one sold really well, was loved by the critics and won something like 153 grammies.
Feels Like Home The follow up to the successful debut album should make the fans happy. The jazzy feel is gone, except for a couple of tracks, but yet Feels Like Home manages to obtain the laid-back, smooth, relaxed and classy atmosphere that surrounded Come Away With Me. Here, the inspiration is gathered from the blues, country and soul. Somehow it sounds just like the previous album despite the changes. “What Am I To You” recalls Bonnie Raitt, “In The Morning” basically is the blues interpreted in the vein of the magnificent Kelly Joe Phelps, whilst Jones fuels “Carnival Town” with her patented jazz balladry fused with a touch of country. Norah Jones’ soft vocals are in the center throughout, and rightfully so, but maybe the biggest changes compared to the debut lies within the arrangements. The songs are often built around tasteful acoustic guitar instead of Jones’ tender piano playing. Not that the piano is all gone, but other instruments are allowed to take up space and attention. Furthermore solidifying the country stamp Dolly Parton guests on one track, and so are Gareth Hudson and Levon Helm of legendary The Band. Jones also successfully covers Townes Van Zandt’s “Be Here To Love Me”, Tom Waits’ “The Long Way Home” as well as Duke Ellington’s instrumental “Melancholia” with newly written lyrics by Jones herself, here titled “Don’t Miss You At All”. Considering guest artists and the cover material, it is quite impressive to see that Jones’ remains the star of the record and never is pushed away by her more experienced colleagues. I’m not sure that Feels Like Home is better than its predecessor, but when “Humble Me” and “Toes” are whispered through the speakers, she is touching a new level that the last album never quite reached. A level only the great ones are able to reach. The Band did it with “I Shall Be Released”, Dylan on Blood On The Tracks, the Beach Boys in “God Only Knows”. Then you know what we’re talking about here. It’s simply flat out stunning.
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