This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
There’s only one thing wrong with being on top: There’s nowhere to go but down.
For example, look at jazz-pop phemon Norah Jones. Her debut album Come Away With Me has sold 5.1 million copies. It won eight Grammy Awards. It took her almost instantly from lounge act to international superstar. But here’s the problem: How in heaven’s name can you possibly top it?
Well, the simple answer is you can’t. And to her credit, Jones doesn’t even try to compete with her illustrious past on her 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, penning at least a portion of nearly half this album, 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 version of Texas troubadour Townes Van Zandt’s Be Here To Love Me, backed by Garth Hudson of The Band. He also turns up Jones’ own roots ballad What Am I To You?, and brings drummer Levon Helm along for the ride. Perhaps the most unusual and telling cameo of all, however, comes on the zippy backporch bluegrass number Creepin’ In, on which Jones shares the mic with none other than Dolly Parton. If all of that isn’t a left turn, I 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.
