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FEELS LIKE HOME
Norah Jones
(Blue Note/EMI)
There's only one thing wrong with being on top: There's nowhere to go but down.
Look at jazz-pop phenom Norah Jones. Her debut album Come Away With Me has sold 5.1 million copies. It won eight Grammys. It vaulted her from lounge act to international superstar. But here's the rub: How in heaven's name can you possibly top it?
Well, the truth is you can't. And to her credit, Jones doesn't try to compete with her illustrious past on her intriguing sophomore disc Feels Like Home. Instead, she makes a conscious effort to broaden her horizons (and presumably her reputation) beyond that of breathy jazz chanteuse.
A rootsier, looser and more guitar-oriented affair than Come Away, these 13 tracks find Jones changing gears, mixing things up and taking a few interesting left turns. First, there's the songwriting: Instead of just getting Jesse (Don't Know Why) Harris to crank out another set of hits, Jones takes a greater role herself. She wrote or at least helped pen nearly half these cuts, including the Rickie Lee Jones-like ballad Carnival Town, the bluesy Prettiest Thing and Don't Miss You at All, which finds her putting lyrics to Duke Ellington's Melancholia.
He's not the only great tunesmith covered here; Jones also offers a stark, country-blues version of Tom Waits' The Long Way Home and an achingly bluesy take on Texas troubadour Townes Van Zandt's Be Here to Love Me, backed by Garth Hudson of The Band. He also turns up on Jones' own rootsy ballad What Am I to You?, and brings drummer Levon Helm along for the ride. But perhaps the most unusual and telling cameo of all comes on the zippy backporch bluegrass number Creepin' In, when Jones shares the mic with none other than Dolly Parton. If all that isn't a left turn, we don't know what is.
Whether the audience that embraced Come Away With Me will go along for the ride remains to be seen, of course. But even if Feels Like Home turns out to be Jones' sophomore slump CD, she's got a long way to go before she's down and out.
Track Listing
1. Sunrise
2. What Am I To You?
3. Those Sweet Words
4. Carnival Town
5. In The Morning
6. Be Here To Love Me
7. Creepin' In
8. Toes
9. Humble Me
10. Above Ground
11. The Long Way Home
12. The Prettiest Thing
13. Don't Miss You At All