Norah Jones: Not Too Late Transcript

UMC.org Music Review

Norah Jones:  Not Too Late
Label: Blue Note
Sound/Style: rootsy and low-key pop distilled from country, jazz and R&B

By Steve Morley

(UMC.org)—Norah Jones embodies the old saying that big things sometimes come in little packages. Not only has the diminutive, doll-faced singer displayed a broad command of jazz, blues, pop, and country styles, but she and her associates continue to fuse these into music that increasingly expands beyond easy categories. Her multi-million-selling Come Away With Me revealed Jones’ affinity for cocktail jazz in particular, though her follow-up stretched out with material by historic African-American composer Duke Ellington and gravel-throated neo-beatnik Tom Waits. On her third long-player, Not Too Late, she steps up as a songwriter, channeling her eclectic tastes into her most left-field sounds to date. Jones’s knack for subtlety and accessibility allow her more offbeat and sophisticated choices to flow into the pop pipeline, though some fans may find them a tad hard to digest.

On "Sinkin’ Slow," she offers a darkly comic dirge that owes a debt to Duke Ellington’s evocative 1920s work. The track also nods to the deranged parlor songs of Tom Waits, another of Jones’ musical influences. Not only does Jones successfully assimilate these sources along with legends like Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday, but transforms them into a palatable lesson in jazz history for ears accustomed to mainstream pop. The track’s foray into personal politics, a first for the singer, is a thread she loosely carries through nearly half of the album. The most controversial of these cuts is "My Dear Country," a number provocatively suggesting that Election Day is a more harrowing occasion than the Halloween night that precedes it. But while the lyrics take direct potshots at a clearly identified—if unnamed—U.S. President, Jones stops short of America-bashing by offering gratitude for the freedom she enjoys: "I love the things that you’ve given me/ I cherish you, my dear country/ But sometimes I don’t understand the way we play/ I love the things that you’ve given me/ And most of all that I am free/ To have a song that I can sing on election day."

Jones rewards the faithful with a few intimate moments and some bluesy, untucked workouts that give the serene singer a chance to flex some vocal muscle. These are hardly love songs per se, often exploring complex emotions and bittersweet relationships with unsettled boundary lines. The euphoric south-of-the-border sway of "Be My Somebody," for example, doesn’t quite jibe with the lyric’s relational desperation: "Be my somebody tonight/ Be the one who will hold me tight/ Honey please, please, please/ ‘Cause I’ve been so all alone/ And no one will pick up the phone/ Honey please, please stay." Despite the harsh morning light scattered across the disc, the title track of Not Too Late does offer hope in the saving grace of love ("I’ve seen people try to change/ And I know it isn’t easy/ But nothin’ worth the time ever really is/ And it’s not too late for love"). Many times, though, that love is not the cozy cocoon it seemed on Jones’ sultry debut, Come Away With Me, but rather love as a last refuge—risky and thorny but nonetheless in short supply and urgent demand.

Audio Clips

"Wish I Could"

"Sinkin' Soon"

"The Sun Doesn't Like You"

"Until the End"