Virtually overnight Norah Jones went from coffee house singer to Grammy winner in 2002, with her debut album Come Away With Me. Filled with reworked covers and songs written by band mates, Jones herself took part in the writing process of only 4 songs on the album. Subsequently on her third release Not Too Late, she writes or co-writes every track, with mixed results.
With help from her boyfriend, bassist, and for the first time: producer; Lee Alexander does a notably average job of putting together an eclectic collection of diverse music. Unlike Jones\' fist two albums which had central themes musically, helping to string the works together as a cohesive whole; Not Too Late seems more like a jumbled mess of various genre attempts. The disc overall is just under produced, whether it be intentional or not. In what may be an attempt to garner more of an art house sound than coffee house sound, the disc just seems to feel more like a collection of songs than an aesthetically pleasing complete album.
Norah\'s famous sultry vocal carries the songs that are keepers, and there are quite a few gems to be found. The first single off the album, the sporadic trombone filled "Sinkin\' Soon" may take a few listens, seems to be just different enough to warrant repeated hearings. Songs where piano is the more predominant instrument, are the songs that fit Ms. Jones voice the best, "Until The End", "Thinking About You," and the stellar title track that ends the disc are among them. Along with "Sinkin\' Soon," Norah dabbles in an array of new sounds, such as the dreamy "Not My Friend," and the waltz like "My Dear Country," which shows of Jones\' first attempt at a political lyric, displaying her anti-presidential sentiments. The beautiful "Rosie\'s Lullaby" is the brightest of the gems. The slowed down blues number shows the best arrangement here and calls back to the debut album more so than any other track. Other songs such as the sluggish opener, "Wish I could," the lackluster "Broken," and the simply out of place "Little Room," are rather disappointing.
Although it appears that Norah\'s popularity is as strong as ever, Not Too Late is the weakest of Jones\' first trio of albums. Possibly trying to expand from whatever she feels as if she\'s been labeled as, she loses a lot of the strong aesthetic qualities that made her first two discs so endearing. For fans of her previous work, you may be disappointed, but there are enough quality singles here for a purchase. Hopefully Jones can return to form for her next release. It\'s hard to think that someone with so much musical prowess and such a hauntingly beautiful voice could stay down for long.
"Not Too Late" is on sale January 30, 2007 from Blue Note.
