NORAH JONES

Visions (Blue Note)

Twenty or so years have passed since singer-songwriter Norah Jones’ Grammy-grabbing debut album Come Away With Me, and with Visions – her eighth artist album to date – she shows no sign of having driven down a creative cul-de-sac. She’s aided in the studio here by Leon Michels: founder member of Sharon Jones’ Dap-Kings, musician with the Black Keys and Wu-Tang Clan, and producer of various renowned artists from New York’s Daptone label.

Michels has thrown a rich, somewhat Daptone-like soul sensibility into the equation, which compliments Jones’ lean yet beautiful piano- and guitar-led moments. Jones has ditched the claustrophobic frustration subject matter of her last album, 2020’s Pick Me Up Off The Floor, and replaced it with songs of newfound freedom: tracks such as Paradise and the album’s lead single Running being solid enough proof that Jones’ ninth album is a profound winner.

words DAVID NOBAKHT