Norah Jones can capture a mood, and "Feels Like Home," Jones' sophomore album on Blue Note Records, feels just as comfortable as her first release, "Come Away With Me." Jones's new album sounds just a shade to the Nashville side of her former release, with guests Dolly Parton, Band alumni Levon Helm and Garth Hudson and Tony Scherr (who also played slide guitar in "Lonestar" on Jones' previous album) occasionally turning up the twang, but not to the point where it's that much different than her debut.
If anything, "Feels Like Home" may be a homecoming of sorts for Jones, who grew up in the country music-filled air of Dallas, Texas. The folk/blues flavor of Jones's new songs falls somewhere between Bonnie Raitt and Alison Krauss, though Jones's voice, and her sensitive way of caressing a careful lyric, remains uniquely her own.
"Feels Like Home" is Jones' first recording with the group of musicians now acting as her touring band, The Handsome Band, including Adam Levy (guitars), Kevin Breit (guitars) and Lee Alexander (bass), who played on Jones' last album, and newcomers Andrew Borger (drums) and Daru Oda (backup vocals). The addition of Oda is particularly noticeable. In songs like "Sunrise" and "Carnival Town," Jones and Oda sing in sumptuous harmony, and their voices blend with appreciable warmth.
Also particularly noticeable is the change of instrumental color on Jones' new album, though that can be explained as much as a matter of marketing as of musical intention. For Jones' first album, producer Arif Mardin and Blue Note Records, one of the most prestigious labels in jazz, brought in established artists Bill Frisell (guitars), Sam Yahel (Hammond B-3 organ) and Jenny Scheinman (violin), no doubt in part to enhance the credibility of a pop-jazz release on their label. Now it's clear Jones is in no need of further endorsement.
"Sunrise" and "Carnival Town," co-written by Jones and Alexander, Jones' boyfriend of several years, are two of the strongest tracks on the new album. "Sunrise," which fittingly opens the album, is like aural candy, with Jones and Oda's harmony lighting up the refrain.
The song's somewhat impressionistic lyrics afford the listener a wide range of interpretation, but the heart of the song, its blissful exhaustion, comes through clearly in the weary rise and fall of Jones' voice.
"Carnival Town" is an excellently- crafted song, spacious to the point of emptiness, a wonderful picture of loneliness among clowns and carousels. Set at a slowly rocking pace, a sparse guitar accompaniment mirrors the lyrics above: "Round n' round/ Carousel/ Has got you under its spell/ Going nowhere." Again, Jones and Oda's voices melt together in the refrain: "Is it Lonely?/ Lonely/ Lonely." And through this exceptional atmosphere, Jones, on the piano, weaves thoughtful, complementary lines and a curiously humorous solo towards the end.
Jones' talent as a pianist comes through in a new way on "Feels Like Home." In the album's final two songs, "The Prettiest Thing" and "Don't Miss You At All," her playing is particularly strong. "Don't Miss You At All," a piano/voice solo much like "The Nearness of You," the final song on "Come Away With Me," allows time for an extended solo. The song is also a jazzier take on the melancholy mood that pervades "Feels Like Home," arranged by Jones from a Duke Ellington original, "Melancholia."
To some listeners, the melancholy feel of "Feels Like Home" may seem frustratingly similar to the tone of Jones' first album. If you're looking for great innovation, look elsewhere. Though Jones has made a few music videos for MTV, she eschews the fashion and melismatic overkill that characterizes so many female pop vocalists today. Jones has her own image to sell, albeit a difficult one to pin down. If you load "Feels Like Home" into an internet-linked media player, its genre, assumedly provided by Blue Note, is listed as "Miscellaneous." That may be as close to a genre as she comes.
What defines Jones' work thus far, and perhaps what is most responsible for her vast popular appeal, is not a genre or style; it is a mood. Her albums convey an innocence and intimacy that play through from song to song. The mood of her music may be more or less the same from album to album, but that makes it no less warm and inviting.
If "Come Away With Me" has the warmth of a cashmere sweater on a rainy Sunday morning, "Feels Like Home" has the rustic feeling of your favorite blue jeans and a warm fire. And that has certain appeal, even if it isn't that different from the sweater.
