After releasing several albums that cemented her reputation as an artist with her gentle croon and attractive presence, Jones attempted to expand her artistic scope with projects like Not too late (2007) and Little broken hearts (2012).
Ravi Shankar’s daughter, Anoushka Shankar, attended University of North Texas until deciding to focus on performance instead. Join us as we discuss Visions, her latest album.
1. Come Away With Me
Norah Jones made her debut in 2002, captivating listeners with her jazz-based music from a twentysomething woman who was the daughter of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. Her richly expressive and smoke-tinged voice effortlessly connected country, folk rock and Great American Songbook sounds.
Since her debut album, she’s become a diamond-certified artist, adding acting and singing performances, along with collaborations with artists like Ryan Adams and Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy creator). But it remains her debut that resonates with fans; now available as a deluxe reissue with new stories and songs most listeners may have missed before.
2. Feels Like Home
Feels Like Home, the second album by Norah Jones, disproved any critics who suggested she might just be another pretty face with a pleasant voice. “Sunrise”, co-written by Jesse Harris and Lee Alexander bass player Lee Alexander mines Aretha Franklin territory while shifting toward country soul with assistance from Levon Helm’s slap drumming and Garth Hudson organ fills from The Band era harking back.
Jones generally forgoes such twangy tendencies in favor of elegance and taste; her voice recalls Billie Holiday or Ryan Adams; while her piano playing can easily stand on its own without needing an accompaniment beat to be heard.
3. Sunrise
At some point in her early coffeehouse years, Jones began to feel that her early coffeehouse vibe was becoming tiresome and began branching out from classic piano ballads towards more experimental and worldly sounds. At risk of alienating fans familiar with her original genre of caramel-macchiato songs and working with producers who challenged her boundaries, Jones ventured outside her comfort zone by trying something different than piano ballads.
The result was a moody set that featured bolder production flourishes and guitar tantrums by artists such as Jacquire King and Marc Ribot, including “Sunrise,” which showcases Jones’ skill at crafting songs with both subtle beauty and cathartic power.
4. Danger Mouse
Jones has always come into her studio album sessions equipped with fully formed songs and basic arrangement ideas; on Little Broken Hearts however, she and producer Danger Mouse started with nothing more than an empty notebook full of ideas.
Burton, better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, achieved prominence through 2004 album The Grey Album; an innovative blend of Jay-Z’s The Black Album and samples from The Beatles’ White Album. Danger Mouse had also worked with British cartoon-pop act Gorillaz and soul duo Gnarls Barkley.
5. Begin Again
Gretta is determined to start over after her painful relationship ends and recruits Dan, an established record producer, as her help in making an album in various public locations around New York.
Begin Again is an inoffensive romantic comedy featuring Keira Knightley and Adam Levine, written and directed by John Carney (Once). Carney returns to explore how Dan and Gretta find solace through music together in Begin Again.
Jones steps outside her musical comfort zone on this podcast to process romance’s emotional aftermath in a coherent, convincing fashion, rivaling some classic heartbreak albums.
6. Visions
Visions is an intimate blues album featuring stunning backing harmonies and soulful organ leads reminiscent of his previous genre experiments – 2012’s Little Broken Hearts for instance comes to mind as an example.
Visions are supernatural appearances that provide supernatural revelation. Typically clearer than dreams and possessing greater spiritual relevance. “Vision” can often be found being used within prophetic passages in the Bible.
Vision’s Vibranium-infused synthetic body and the Mind Stone implanted into his forehead give him numerous unique powers, including superhuman strength, flight and the ability to phase through solid objects. He also boasts genius-level intelligence.
7. Pick Me Up Off the Floor
Norah Jones recently released the second song and music video from her forthcoming album Visions. This 12-track set marks Norah’s return to Blue Note with an eclectic set that conveys freedom, the instinct to dance, making things right, accepting whatever life may bring, as well as accepting whatever comes its way – the antithesis to 2020, which was full of darkness.
Norah Jones recorded the song written by Jesse Harris with her band in just one take; its recording soon became iconic and won her a record deal with Blue Note Records.