Review Summary: A superbly crafted pop/jazz album that's romantic, playful, beautiful, and wonderfully consistent.
What ever happened to Norah Jones? She didn't necessarily become obscure over the years, but she was presented as the "next big thing" when she first entered the music scene. A pop artist who can resurrect jazz and country standards from the 1940s and 1950s will certainly turn some heads in a genre that's often so concerned with polish and the performer's image, but I think that's what made Jones so big. She wasn't making any bouncy dance pop songs, and she wasn't dancing in skimpy outfits. No, she did something that seemed fresh to many audiences: she made soft pop and adult contemporary music that didn't sound manipulative or manufactured.
Come Away with Me, while consistently mellow, is quite an ambitious work as it combines elements of jazz ("The Nearness of You," "The Long Day Is Over"), pop ("Don't Know Why," "Feelin' the Same Way"), folk ("Nightingale," "Seven Years") and more. Of course, the focus of the entire experience is Norah herself; while she actually isn't the primary songwriter (that credit goes to Jesse Harris and Lee Alexander), it's her soft crooning and beautiful piano work that carries each tune so well. What makes Jones such a joy to listen to is just how chameleonic and effortless her vocal performances are, as she can switch to (seemingly) any genre without sounding out of her element. But even today, I still feel as though her piano playing is what sets her apart from her contemporaries; you get to hear lots of nice jazz chords, blues-based solos, frequent arpeggios, and other little tricks as they're used with both elegance and precision. The fact that she's both a highly proficient pianist and and accomplished vocalist on the same record is just icing on the cake.
The musical variety of
Come Away with Me is definitely what helps pick up the album's slack at times, because the one minor flaw of the experience is that it's unfortunately pretty one-note when it comes to atmosphere. There aren't many surprises when the entire record is so soft and relaxing, but this also manages to be one of its greatest strengths. It may not be the most stimulating, but it's an album that knows exactly what it wants to be and retains its focus until the end of its runtime. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the backing band helping Norah Jones out as well, including the aforementioned songwriters Lee Alexander and Jesse Harris. While they don't offer much to the more minimalist piano-centered tracks like "The Nearness of You" or "The Long Day Is Over," the guitar playing of the folk-based songs adds so much to the album's flavor. "Nightingale" and "Seven Years" are particularly fantastic because of this, the solo of the latter even giving a country edge and managing to blend a few genres flawlessly. The rhythm section is pretty standard, but at least maintains the subtlety and grace of each track, as well as having more of the spotlight during the Latin-influenced "I've Got to See You Again" and the smash hit "Don't Know Why." In the end, however, what really matters is how this all comes together. There's such a magic and chemistry between the songs and the musicians who play them that some moments just can't be done justice in a review; just listen to the intimate acoustic ballad "Painter Song" or the simplistic beauty of the title track and you'll know what I'm talking about. It's pretty clear from later albums that Norah Jones hasn't really strayed too far from the formula she established on
Come Away with Me, but then again, maybe that's for the best. She not be a superstar anymore, and her latest work
Little Broken Hearts sadly didn't even manage to be certified gold by the RIAA, but at least the mainstream pop crowd will still remember her for one of the best debut albums of all time.
