Norah Jones – Visions

I have been a Norah Jones fan since February 26, 2002. I know that specific date because I had read the pre-release promo back in the day, and based on what I read, I was confident enough to buy her debut album on CD on release day without hearing it first. It was love at first sight (actually, at first listen). I was not alone: Come Away with Me sold over 27 million copies.

Over the next 22 years, Norah did not release a bad album, however, there have been some albums that didn’t grip me. Good news: Visions grips me. Anytime Norah wants to get a little weird, I am all in – Visions is a little weird (adventurous) in the retro funky soul grooves it explores.

The collaboration of Norah and Leon Michels is inspired. Michels is the album’s producer, cowriter, and backup musician (he is a multi-instrumentalist). His claim to fame is he played saxophone in Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and has performed with Lee Fields & The Expressions, Dan Auerbach’s band The Arcs, Menahan Street Band, and his own project El Michels Affair. Michels and Jones first collaborated on the single “Can You Believe” and later worked together on Jones’ 2021 holiday album I Dream of Christmas (which I have never listened to – I will now based on Visions). 

Per the Visions pre-release promo, Norah said: “The reason I called the album Visions is because a lot of the ideas came in the middle of the night or in that moment right before sleep, and ‘Running’ was one of them where you’re half asleep and kind of jolted awake. We did most of the songs in the same way where I was at the piano or on guitar and Leon was playing drums and we were just jamming on stuff. I like the rawness between me and Leon, the way it sounds kind of garage-y but also kind of soulful, because that’s where he’s coming from, but also not overly perfected.”

Here are some track-by-track comments:

“All This Time” (Jones/Michels) opens the album and wow what a sexy song! I could imagine a 70s soul/R&B male vocal group doing this, for example, the O’Jays or The Stylistics. Love these lyrics:

“All this time, I think of you
I think of you
Stay with me, I’ll make it easy”

“Staring at the Wall” (Jones/Michels) sounds like an indie version of Bonnie Raitt and I can imagine Bonnie covering it in a blues-rock style. Norah’s guitar playing has advanced to the point that it rivals her piano playing. It is nice to have this guitar edge as part of her palate.

“Paradise” (Jones/Michels) was the teaser single released a couple of months before the album. It is girl-group splendor – like The Supremes. Norah has developed amazing self-backup vocals (what Joni used to do). Lyrically it is a complex romance – exes back together, it’s hot, but it can’t continue:

“I watch you fall
I try to stop
Waiting for the pain to drop
I know I’ve got to let you go again
Although I never wanted this to end
I know it’s time to let you go”

“Queen Of The Sea” (Jones) – Norah has really developed as a songwriter and singer and this song showcases that. This is a guitar-based arrangement with more amazing self-backup vocals and wonderful horns. The song has a country music vibe. Again her fretwork is so cool – it is minimalistic but groovy AF. This could be a Lucinda Williams’ song.

“Oh, you made a mess out of me
But I’m finally free, ooh
Oh, you made a mess out of me
But I’m finally free
Ooh, oh, ooh”

The “Ooh, oh, ooh” almost sounds like “boo-hoo” which is lyrically appropriate.

“Visions” (Jones) is a mournful deconstructed Mariachi/country song with a gorgeous rich vocal.

“Running” (Jones/Michels) sounds like Roxy Music, but with female vocals and point of view. I like the bass (wow Norah you have come a long way from just tinkling keys on a piano) and baritone sax courtesy of Michels.

“I Just Wanna Dance” (Jones/Michels/Steinweiss) sounds late at night. The song has a nice retro soul feel with outstanding horns (assume that is the Steinweiss influence). Norah’s keyboards have a Billy Preston vibe.

“I’m Awake” (Jones) has an empowering lyric. It has a funky keyboard, like something Stevie might do. A little bit of an Al Green (arrangement) and Diana Ross (vocals) vibe too.

“Swept Up in the Night” (Jones/Michels) has some Joni in the arrangements. Again some nice horns.

“On My Way” (Jones/Remm) Pete Remm is Norah’s husband and father of their children, so not surprisingly this is a lullaby.

“Alone with My Thoughts” (Jones/Michels) starts as a mournful piano ballad. The arrangement gets fuller as the song progresses – again great use of horns.

“That’s Life”(Jones/Michels) is jazzy, but schmaltzy, in a good way. It is a nice long goodbye to end the album.

Overall Norah has advanced on several fronts. I assume the pandemic gave her a chance to really woodshed. Her vocals are the most adventurous and satisfying in her catalog. As mentioned earlier her guitar playing now rivals her piano. Her songwriting is strong. The arrangements are loose but serve the songs (however I am not feeling the birds in some of the arrangements). Michels is a strong musician-producer presence – which I like because Norah is a musician’s musician and consummate collaborator. This is my favorite Norah Jones record since Little Broken Hearts (2012) – also an album with a strong producer presence (Danger Mouse). This will clearly be my “best of 2024” list.

I am a little disappointed in the quality of the vinyl, it does not live up to the usual Blue Note standards in that is a little noisy. I did go with the indie record store Orange Blend version – I may need to skip these pretty vinyl records in favor of the old reliable: black. The 24-bit/96 kHz FLAC on streaming sounds fantastic.