Norah Jones - Visions (2024)

It occurs to me that the relative quality of a Norah Jones album boils down to who she selects as a co-writer/producer. In the case of Visions, she chose to work with Leon Michels. I was completely unfamiliar with the name, but not the indie garage band production style he brings with him from his work with (according to Wikipedia) Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Menahan Street Band, The Black Keys, etc. The overall sound reminds me of Dan Auerbach's album, Waiting on a Song, an album I enjoy. But, above all, we're treated to Norah's beautifully unique voice, often overdubbed, which sounds as effortless as her sublime keyboard work. Certainly her best album since Day Breaks, the LA Times describes Visions as "a funky, gently psychedelic garage-soul record that puts her sultry vocals amid fuzzy guitars, off-kilter drums and crinkly vintage keyboards." I couldn't come up with a better description - that one's perfect.

Over at the meta-analysis websites, Metacritic rated it at 81, whereas anydecentmusic.com has it lower at 7.1. It was recently nominated for a Grammy award in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #168
• Billboard Jazz: #1
• Billboard Rock & Alternative: #40
• Billboard Tastemakers: #17

Tracks: My favorites are Staring At the Wall, Paradise, Running, and I'm Awake. No skips. 

Bonus track: A country-flavored tune titled Until My Heart Is Found and I'll be damned if Norah can't channel Patsy Cline when she wants to.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Before this purchase, I couldn’t tell you the last time I purchased an album on the day of release but I bought this CD on March 8, 2024 at the local Target (the location closest to my house still has a section of the store dedicated to physical media!). The CD's hype sticker (above) mentions a poster, which is simply the cover photo on the back of the CD booklet of the album's lyrics.

Not sure if that lives up to the claim of "poster" in my mind, but it could have been worse.

And my fantasy of singing a duet with Norah persists...

Previously revisited for the blog:

Pick Me Up Off The Floor (2020)	The Fall (2009)
Begin Again (2019)	Not Too Late (2007)
Day Breaks (2016)	Feels Like Home (2004)
...Little Broken Hearts (2012)	Come Away With Me (2002)