Music Review: Norah Jones' Not Too Late

Rating: 3/5 

Norah Jones is so young. It’s still hard for me to think that she has released her third album. I remember watching the Grammy awards back in 2003 when she won so many awards, she could barely keep grasp of them. 

On January 30, 2007, Jones once again graced us with another CD. This one, named Not Too Late, differs from her other two in that she has written every single song on the album. In terms of sound, Jones told Katie Couric in a 60 Minutes interview, “There’s a little playfulness, but there’s also a lot of darker material on this album.” 

To some extent, I find that is true. But even when the CD first starts to play that first song, it’s the same type of songs that we know from her other two albums. There’s the same recipe of the soft piano added to the just as soft, sweet voice to produce the classic Norah Jones. Nothing really has changed. Well, for the second song, the recipe calls to replace the piano with a guitar riff. 

Not Too Late has extended a reach for Jones, but it doesn’t extend too far for her. It’s not as experimental as her fans would come to believe from her comments. But fans are fans, and they have been buying the CD. That won’t change. 

We see changes in track 3, which reminds me the most of something from the musical Chicago. “Sinkin’ Soon” has this piano, twangy, trumpet thing going on. I found myself thinking, “What is this?” It belongs in a saloon somewhere. 

“Little Room” is another song that has a little twist on it. There’s whistling in the song. That much I didn’t really understand. It confused me more than anything else. Could she not have hummed those notes instead? 

And if you’ve heard much about this CD, it’s that reference to the song called “My Dear Country,” which Jones wrote before election time. “Who knows? Maybe he’s not deranged,” she sings. Other than that, there isn’t a whole lot of variation on the album. 

“Until the End” is a good one to put in the background as you’re studying or doing homework. This is the type of song you’d picture listening to in a quiet bluesy bar. This song follows that same recipe of the piano and her voice. As does the last song on the album. 

“Thinking About You” is Jones’ first single. I don’t have a whole lot of words to describe it. It’s simple. It’s cute. And so is the music video for this song, which shows us what’s going on inside her head. 

In the end, I think this CD is something I’ll listen to, but not put on repeat. It’s good, and no one will dispute that. It’s Norah Jones. What we love about her is that her music is human. It doesn’t depend heavily on other sounds and instruments like other bands. It’s not technical. Jones’ music relies in her voice. 

Standout songs:

Not Too Late

Thinking About You

Rosie’s Lullaby 

For more information and tour dates:

http://www.norahjones.com