Norah Jones: Not Steppin' Up
Norah Jones latest is as impressive as her Grammy-winning record, Come Away with Me. You’ll probably hear this playing at your neighborhood Starbucks, or your SEVERAL neighborhood Starbucks. Barnes and Nobles will probably sneak a couple of tracks into the PA to make the atmosphere “chill,” because Jones writes chill-out music. No song on the record will strike anyone the wrong way, but it may make some fall asleep; all the songs are as soothing as her first batch of songs.
You don’t know who Jesse Harris is, right? “Don’t Know Why” ring a bell? No? It should. He wrote that groundbreaking song and numerous other songs on her debut. Unfortunately, he did not contribute any songs on this record, but he lent his acoustic guitar talents on “Those Sweet Words,” and “Carnival Town.” It’s a shame that he doesn’t have any songs on the record, because he is a really talented songwriter and musician. This is a shameless plug for Mr. Harris, but you really must listen to some of his own work with the Fernandos. He wrote 4.5 songs out of total of 14 songs on Come Away with Me!
Norah Jones had two choices at the end of Grammy night-tour the hell out of Come Away with Me and have sold-out concerts all over the globe or record a new album. She performed at several concerts before recording Feels like Home, but I wouldn’t call it exhausting the album, after all she only had two singles at the time. In the studio she had some more decisions-record generally the same album and keep the songwriters sans Harris or make a completely different eclectic experimental album. Norah Jones is a smart business woman; she decided to release an album that was essentially the same as her debut.
Though the songs are not exactly the same, some new tracks are reminiscent of her previous songs. Her first single “Sunrise” can also be called “Feeling the Same Way.” Both have perfect pop melodies and a certain reflective cheerfulness. The piano keys are more pronounced in “Sunrise,” while as the guitar is more prominent in “Feeling…”. “Sunrise is doing fairly well as a single, while “Feeling…” faired well as the intro for the TV movie “Lucky 7”. “What am I to you” is one of the songs that prove that Jones is a cool smooth bluesy cat with her beautiful vocals and her “handsome band’s” innate groove. The piano is barely audible, as the guitarist shows off his skills compete with Jones’s vocals. “Those Sweet Words” falls into that “Feeling…” category, because all they were all written by Lee Alexander, the bass player of the band. It’s a nice ditty, and not much more than that.
“Carnival Town,” may be the most innerving song on the record. It’s very slow paced, and it sounds like she is trying too hard to write a blues song. There’s an inexplicable emptiness in the lyrics. The next song makes up for the emptiness for the previous song. “Dark like the shady corner inside a violin”; it is not a profound lyric, but it is a good use of image in simile. The song is kind of like words that roll off your tongue; it’s natural, smooth, and easy-going. Sounds more like a lubricant commercial.
When you’ve got a couple of Grammies under your belt, you have leeway to have a duet with whomever you want. Who would you have a vocal duet with? Norah Jones chose out of all people, Dolly Parton. Not that there’s anything wrong with her, but out of all people in the world, Dolly Parton. Norah Jones is a lot of things, but she is not country. Their voices do not compliment each other; Jones’s voice does not do justice to Parton’s voice or vice versa. Parton would have been better off flying it solo on this track. Although, I must admit this track is pretty catchy, and it is also different from the other tracks, which helps Jones avoid being confined to one genre.
Norah Jones did not write “Humble Me,” but she had to approve the song, or else it wouldn’t make it into the album. None of her songs or interviews have revealed anything about her religion, but this song may have nothing to do with religion. Jason Pierce of Spiritualized said using Lord is “the same as saying ‘baby’ or ‘girl’” in a Filter magazine interview. Jones uses both “lord,” and “baby”…so the Pierce theory is out the window???
“The Long Way Home” is a Tom Waits cover. Jones can make any song sound really elegant and smooth. There’s no frill, fancy instrumentation, in fact the bass line is the same throughout the whole song. The beauty is in the simplicity that she kept in the song, allowing her voice to shine. Jones fairs well as a lyricist with her vivid lyrics in “Don’t Miss You at All.” As the best track on the record, it is an appropriate closing for saving the best for last. It is the smoothies, most well-written, and most simplistic (instrumentally) on the record.
Your mom, your dad, your significant other, you grandparents, your relations, and your neighbor love Norah Jones. Jones’s ability to please different types of people and generations makes her successful. Even if someone does not like her, they will admit to a certain extent that she definitely has talent.
B+ for not having Jesse Harris as a songwriter (just kidding). Jones has yet to rise a step above her last album.