Not Too Late

Norah Jones | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: October 2, 2007
• Release Date: October 2, 2007
• Label: BLUE NOTE
• Copyright: (C) 2007 The Blue Note Label Group
• Genres:
• ASIN: B001KOYMN6
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (373 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Languid and dreamy, a dash of smoky, sultry cabaret...., March 4, 2007

By 

Amskeating - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not Too Late (Audio CD)

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.

59 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovingly crafted and sweetly sung., March 11, 2007

By 

gizgoogmai (London, England UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not Too Late (Audio CD)

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".

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The smooth-singing siren tiptoes toward a slightly younger demographic., March 22, 2007

By 

peterhoof (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not Too Late (Audio CD)

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.