Album Review: Norah Jones, Visions

The American singer-songwriter and pianist Norah Jones is usually credited/blamed for making light, inoffensive jazz acceptable again. But for this, her ninth studio album, she has teamed up with producer and multi-instrumentalist Leon Michels, with whom she co-wrote eight of the tracks.

His input adds an intriguing contrast to the trademark Jones approach, already flagged up on pre-album single ‘Running’. Opener ‘All This Time’ beds the album in immediately, with a terrific vocal by Jones and a melody and harmonies to match.

‘Staring At The Wall’ eschews traditional production clichés for a raw rhythmic feel, with Hank Marvin-style guitar picking.

It’s with such surprises that Michels earns his dollars. With ‘Queen Of The Sea’, he proves that less is enough, with its slow, nagging rhythm scaffolding another classy multi-tracked vocal from Ms Jones. ‘I Just Wanna Dance’ takes a leisurely stroll, with a light rhythm that sashays around the room. Appropriately introspective piano chordings, meanwhile, underpin ‘Alone with My Thoughts’.

The track works best in the early hours, like most of this appealing album, with Jones’ quiet, contented exuberance running throughout the performances. Better yet, it provides a sharp contrast to the somewhat downer aspects of her early lockdown work, Pick Me Up Off The Floor.

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