“Vision”
Norah Jones’ new album is a masterpiece even without big words
Big sidelight: Norah Jones, 44
© Joelle Grace Taylor
In terms of content, Norah Jones’ “Visions” is not a revelation, our author believes. Nevertheless, the album awakens a feeling of optimism within him. Suitable for spring.
Sometimes pop can be so simple – and so unglamorous. Norah Jones knows this well. For a video for her song “Staring at the Wall”, she sits in her studio with simple make-up, jeans and an open cardigan, her messy hair only minimally tamed in a ponytail. She has a notepad in her lap and a microphone in her hand, as if she were about to take part in a karaoke competition and therefore shooed the children to bed. The song still enchants immediately, it is one of their best. Instead of a chorus, she howls two words: ah whooooooo!
In terms of content, her current album “Visions” is not a revelation. She sings about love and desire, using lines like “It’s time to let you go” and “I think about you all the time” or, a classic of relationship conversations: “I don’t want to talk about it, I just want to dance. ” In between, she repeatedly weaves in onomatopoeias as hooklines: La, la, la or Hey, hey, hey. Nevertheless, her ninth solo work exudes a lightness, a feeling of optimism, which should not only ensure a feeling of well-being and good sales in the approaching spring. Which is saying something for a woman whose old hits like “Come Away With Me” and “Don’t Know Why” have been viewed more than 50 million times on YouTube alone and are close to half a billion on Spotify.
On “Visions” there is now carefree joy in playing
Her feeling for melodies, for arrangements that sound classic, borrow from jazz, soul and country rock and yet seem modern, was in her genes, even if that shouldn’t belittle her skills. Her father is the Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, who inspired a certain Liverpool quartet in the 1960s.
Jones didn’t really get to know her father until she was an adult. She had long since earned her spurs, for example through musical training at the University of North Texas, alma mater of heroes like Don Henley and Roy Orbison. Before she won five Grammys with her debut album 22 years ago, selling more than 27 million copies, she worked as a waitress, in keeping with the cliché.
There are four years between their rather painful “Pick Me Up Off The Floor”, which was released before the lockdown, and the new album. On “Visions” there is now carefree joy in playing. Acoustic and electric guitar, piano and keyboards surround each other, the drums remain casually in the background, trumpet and saxophone sparkle in between. Or as the now 44-year-old sums it up herself: “Sometimes it’s just so much fun to make music. And I have the feeling that there were a lot of moments like that while recording this album.” Your colleague this time is Leon Michels, producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from New York, who has already toured with the Black Keys and supported Jones on her Christmas album.
The 32 episodes of her podcast “Playing Along” have made Jones even more excited. Since 2022, she has been inviting her favorites to make music together. Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters was already there, as were Laufeny, Jeff Tweedy and Rufus Wainwright. Makes you cry: ah whoooooo!