Customer Reviews

Not Too Late

5 star:		(150)
4 star:		(73)
3 star:		(54)
2 star:		(42)
1 star:		(54)

 

 

While the first two albums were dominated by covers, "Not Too Late" is all solo or co-written original material.

It's not startling, as these songs continue her pop-meets-country with a dash of smoky cabaret style. Nor is it exactly revelatory. Firstly her life, apart from the fame, has been remarkably normal and uneventful and lyrically the new material is mostly observational. ("I have a wonderful boyfriend. So how am I going to write a tortured break-up song? My life is really good and I don't want to ruin it just for a good song.").

Still, there are a few pointed lines about misplaced love and even some mild political commentary in "My Dear Country".

The album has its share of strong tracks, like the Dylanesque "Wish I Could", with its unexpected half-note elisions, or the trad-jazzy Tom Waits-like "Sinkin' Soon", or the haunting, whimsical, cello-darkened "Broken".

The mood is mostly dreamy, lazy country-rockers, quirky waltzes, a little earthy bluesiness and bits of laid-back funk, and there's even a demurely delivered anti-Bush song.

Jones's voice, always more characterful than the easy-listening tag ever implied, sometimes shifts to a strange place between Madeleine Peyroux's or Diane Krall's jazzy smokiness and the sultry, jazz/soul balladry a la Billie Holiday..

But Norah's and partner Lee Alexander's tunes need to improve if the singer isn't to retreat to covering classics again, as she almost certainly will. It's pretty music (though the sugary " Little Room" gets to tooth-twinge point), beautifully performed.
But Norah Jones has more to offer than this, and the needs of the EMI boardroom probably won't help her find it.

Norah Jones's first two albums sold some 17 million and 10 million copies respectively, the kind of diminishing returns that even the flintiest of record company accountants can accept.

Whether that level can be sustained with "Not Too Late" remains to be seen, but the subtle changes to her style here seem like a shrewd attempt to expand artistically without disturbing her core audience, most of whom will still be in the long, deep sleep triggered by her previous albums, anyway.

That lullaby effect continues here - there's even a song called "Rosie's Lullaby" - but it's what's happening at the fringes of the record that's most interesting: things like the unusually intimate string arrangement created by The Kronos Quartet for "Broken", and the New Orleans rumba-rock undercarriage to "Be My Somebody", and its snaking slide-guitar break with the faintest of scorched edges.

There are still plenty of languid cabaret shuffles, piano ballads and neutered blues, but few are as effective as "Sinkin' Soon", where Norah's joined by the simpatico M Ward on a stalking cakewalk of banjo, piano and sleazy muted trumpet.


The highlights of this album, in my opinion , are: "Sinkin' Soon", "Be My Somebody", "Broken".

Studio album number three from Norah Jones is sweet, beautiful, a little bit sad, a little bit happy, immaculately played and exquisitely sung in that gorgeous voice: a warm and charming collection of songs in the styles with which Jones has become associated - blues, jazz, folk, country, soul.
And it's also just a little bit dull.

You don't come to a Norah Jones album expecting visceral death-metal thrills, but even so, sometimes her music would be more satisfying if she would take us on a few more ups and downs, let her voice crackle with emotion.
The tender, soulful ballad "Until the End" would have been the perfect opportunity to do this, but the moment when she grabs hold of a phrase and runs with it: it never happens.

Still, there's plenty to admire here, not least the restrained musicianship, and the tender, timeless songs themselves, all written or co-written by Jones.
But mostly there's that voice - strikingly pure, utterly flawless.

Grammy Award-winning 2002 debut "Come Away With Me" (20 million copies sold worldwide and still counting), and the follow-up "Feels Like Home".
This (her third) album offers us basically more of the same - 13 songs about wistful love, sunsets and daydreaming, aimed squarely at the middle-of-the-road Jazz-lite listener..
It's another collection of intimate, languorous songs which shocase Norah's seductive vocal talent.
Jones wrote all of the songs on this album, apparently, including the recently released single "Thinking About You".
As with previous records, Norah's famed voice (variously described as "sultry" and "sleep-inducing") is the main draw on this album, as she plods away at the keyboard until it's all over.
She and her stripped vocal and musical style hearken back to a past time - back when music was allowed to emote and when instruments were played by actual, real, live humans with blood and guts and stuff.
The Grammy connoisseur's third album continues her exploration of pop, jazz, soul, folk and country in a manner that hasn't been done since Nina Simone was rightfully cursing out audiences who dared to talk during any one of her rapt performances.
Like her predecessor -- with whom she shares a plaintive, smoky vocal style -- Jones' music is without pretension or any hints of overt experimentation. Her lyrics are earnest expressions of everyday life -- "Annie is standing in the door / With a look on her face I can't ignore / She tells me that her heart is sore / And pulls me in" ("Wish I Could") - and they hover over simple arrangements that comprise nothing more than a piano, bass, guitar, occasional horns and strings, and a percussion section.
The effect as a whole is an equable meditation on life and love and a testament to the enduring allure of music without ornamentation.
Under the sparse arrangements and understated delivery - something of a Norah trademark - there's a lot of musicality in play, even though deceptively subdued.
Less is more.Indeed.

One interesting thing about Amazon reviews is that readers really don't like negative ones; just look at the feedback votes for the pans on this page. I think that's because people come to an Amazon page wanting to buy the item, wanting to like it, and the negative reviews are not really what we want to see, not when we've got credit card in-hand.

With the new Norah Jones record, Not Too Late, you've also got the burden of expectation; in a short time she's become a major, Grammy-winning star. You couldn't escape Come Away With Me the summer it was out; it seemed like every time I went to someone's house, they simply HAD to play me this new, great record that it was impossible not to like.

And that's the thing about Not Too Late. It is not impossible to dislike this record. Come Away From Me was lightning in a bottle; it sold 18 million copies yet it was a small record. It was that rarest of albums--a hit on merit, not record company push (heck, it was on Blue Note). It oozed simple earnest charm.

But you can't make your first record more than once, and you probably can't make another universally acclaimed 18-million seller either. Not Too Late is a more challenging work. Of course it boasts the natural gifts of Jones and crew (notably boyfriend/collaborator Lee Alexander.) But it is a genre-hopping, at times almost experimental work, nowhere as consistent, uniform, or in the pocket as her earlier records. If you have expectations based on previous records (not unreasonable), then this will almost undoubtedly not live up to them.

But that means she is painting with a broader palate, and sometimes that takes getting used to; it is indeed possible that with a few years time, Not Too Late will look like Norah's creative breakthrough, maybe something like Elvis Costello's Imperial Bedroom. When I first heard Come Away With Me, my immediate reaction was to go and listen to my Rickie Lee Jones records again, because I thought that, as likable as it was, it was derivative. But what you hear on Not Too Late is an artist finding her own voice.

If you are a fan, then of course you ought to pick this up (and in my opinion, the price is right.) If you are just coming to Norah's work, then (a) where have you been; and (b) you really should start with Come Away With me. There are moments of sublime beauty here ("Not My Friend"), and I have a feeling this album will sound very different after I've let it "breathe" a few months. It does not scale the heights of her first two main records on the "I Instantly Love This and So Will You"-o-meter. Where it falls out in time, we'll just have to wait and see. But I do think that whatever she does from here, this record points the way.

I was so excited to see Norah had a new CD coming out that I pre-ordered it. BIG mistake! I'm not doing that again with NJ. The first album was incredible, the second almost as good but this third one I'm having trouble even getting through the whole thing. I like mellow music but this is ridiculous, I'm falling asleep! I am making myself listen to the album a few times, but besides a couple of songs that are just ok, I am not really enjoying it. I'm fighting myself to keep from forwarding to the next track in mid-song. Most of the songs sound the same and I can't tell one from the next. To the reviewers who insist you have to read the lyrics... Yes lyrics are important but this is music, if I can't bare to listen to it, what's the point? The magic of the first album is no where to be found in this one.

My advice: Listen to it before you buy it because obviously there are some people who love this cd, maybe you are one of those few.

Following the success of Norah Jones's first two albums, 2001's "Come Away With Me" and 2004's "Feels Like Home", (which sold around 17 million and 10 million copies respectively), I'm sure I'm not the only fan who's been wondering whether that level of success can be sustained and what she would do next, i.e. would she stick to her established formula and risk being savaged by the critics for "playing safe", being "dull and boring" and inducing slumber ("sleepytime pop" is how one newspaper critic recently described her music) or would she branch out and try something new, and risk alienating settled and comfortable (not to mention lazy) fans like me?

The answer to the first question remains to be seen of course - after a couple of listens, I'm unsure as to whether this is a better album than the previous two - but happily, in regard to the second one, I think it's safe to say Jones has done both. She still sounds like the Norah we all love but she has made slight changes to her style in what, to this listener, sounds like a clever attempt to expand artistically without ruffling the feathers of her core audience. There's a new producer at the helm in Lee Alexander (Arif Mardin sadly passed away late last year) but while there's no overt new sound to speak of, there is a definite sense of a change in mood. The jaunty "Sinkin' Soon" has a darker edge and a sense of foreboding about it that's new, for instance, even though it is essentially a love song. It's a lot more percussive too. Things get slightly more electronic, even funky for a couple of minutes, on "Thinking About You", her most close-to-formula song on here and similarly, on "Be My Somebody". She nibbles at getting political on songs like "Wish I Could" and "My Dear Country" but she refrains from actually biting. On the former she sings: "Love in the time of war isn't fair/ He was my man but they didn't care". She sails a bit closer to the wind on the latter: "Nothing is as scary as election day," she sings, and later, "Who knows, maybe the plans will change/ Who knows, maybe he's not deranged." Further than many might have expected but I'm sure they'll be those who'll say she could've gone the distance.

And I do question the wisdom of the whistling on "Little Room".

But mostly there are no surprises here. Overall, the sound is a little drier maybe, with more acoustic guitar and cello than I recall hearing on her previous works but it's Norah Jones, still essentially the same but just a little different. Is she pop, is she jazz, is she country or is she folk? Maybe I'm getting too old to care but I just find attempts to categorise her boring now. Whatever she does, she does damn well and what's more, she makes it all seem so effortless. Her creamy voice never seems to rise above a whisper, a sonic caress, the kind of things lullabies are made of. (Maybe the sleepytime pop critic had a point after all). I put on my Norah Jones and I am immediately and very easily able to forget the madness going on all around me. The world feels like an easy, gentle place where everything is all right. Well worth paying $9.99 for, in my view.

Norah Jones and her music seem to be very polarising, if the reviews on this site are anything to go by. It seems people either love her or hate her. I love her of course and in my book, any female singer/songwriter who can achieve the level of commercial success that she has without her videos on heavy rotation on MTV, her airbrushed face (and body in skimpy dresses) plastered all over glossy magazines or a canny PR machine frenetically making sure she remains at the forefront of our collective consciousness, surely has to be doing something right.

I stand amazed at the reviews of this album. They miss the mark... by a mile! Some folks want to make Norah Jones into something she just ain't. She is what she is; a fine singer, and now song writer. Her tempos have generally been slow before. I just don't think people are listening to the lyrics - thoughtful, original and reflective. That she wrote them herself shows tremendous growth. One person wrote this is an album to make love by. Oh pleeeeeeease. She is also not a cool jazz performer. She doesn't fill a specific niche. This is what I like; she combines jazz, country, folk, soul, et al. This is also a wonderfully recorded album by Blue Note - imaging, soundstage, and presence to boot. Blue Note took their time in making this one - thanks. Hey, if this isn't your bag, move on.

Norah Jones' latest album may not win any new fans, but it won't scare away her present ones, either. It's the usual low-key, mellow, effortless affair we've come to expect from this winsome chanteuse. The difference is that this time out, all the songs are originals (most co-written with bassist-boyfriend Lee Alexander, but some penned solo). And she does a capable job, even if some of the lyrics are rather simplistic ("You seem really glad that I am sad"). Oh well, we can't all be Joni Mitchell. There are some standout songs, though, like "Sinkin' Soon", a New Orleans-flavored tune with whimsical food imagery and a political message. Norah's dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs also comes through in "My Dear Country", and the love song "Wish I Could". In fact, there is a political undercurrent in much of her work here, though it's presented subtly in the music. Of course there's romance too, in songs like "Be My Somebody". Melodically, these songs are strong across the board, though none of them will make you want to get up and dance (well, maybe slow-dance). But my advice to Norah is not to abandon the standards and others' contemporary tunes. I think she's at her best when she mixes original and interpreted material, like Bonnie Raitt does. Bottom line? Get it if you're a Norah fan (grab the specially-priced CD/DVD edition if you can). But it's also a safe bet for any fan of mellow, piano-driven, "torchy" music.

I remember when Norah won the grammy for "Come Away With Me". At that time, she stated something to the effect of "this wasn't even a real album ,it was just a demo", or something like that. But, the thing is, it WORKED. It showcased her amazing talent and her wonderful voice. Her talent is great enough that it doesn't need anything more than a demo--we're not talking Britney Spears here. Unfortunately, things have gone downhill since.

Her two albums since her debut have suffered from "studio-ization". Her voice is not as clear on the last two albums, and on her 2nd album, her voice was ruined by the mix which was drowned by studio garbage. (The right kind of studio-ization works for some kinds of music, like M. Ward for example, but just not for Norah.) This, her 3rd album, is a little bit better than the 2nd mix-wise (though still way below the first), but not as strong song-wise. The couple of best songs on this album are, unfortunately, barely on par with the worst songs on the first album.

Norah Jones proved she can write great songs, as demonstrated by "Come Away With Me", however, in her attempt to write or co-write ALL of the songs on this latest CD proved that she also still has a LONG way to grow. It seems that she would have been better off singing more songs from the likes of Jesse Harris or others, while letting her songwriting talents grow in the background. After all, Elvis was great because he had a great voice and a great interpretation style, not because of his songwriting abilities. At this point, the same applies to Norah. If she writes a great song like "Come Away With Me", then fine, include it on the CD, but the songs on this CD are, quite frankly, boring. And, yes, I've been listening to this CD off and on since its release date, but it just doesn't do it.

I haven't given up on Norah yet because I still like her and have great hopes for her, but I wish she'd realize just what it was that made her debut so great. It didn't need what I call studio-ization because the songs were great and the talent was greater. There's no need to mess with the sound here for radio-friendliness, just let the talent shine & choose great songs, no matter who they're written by, and she'd be fine.

That doesn't mean that she has to keep on doing the same things--I certainly encourage growth in music, but just realize where the greatness currently lies: her singing.