Q&A: Norah Jones on her ‘ratty-sounding’ new album and the old song that’s almost ‘too sad’ to play
Twenty-two years ago, Norah Jones blasted into superstardom at age 23 with the release of her instant-smash debut, “Come Away With Me.” An easygoing blend of jazz, folk, pop and country, the LP sold 4 million copies in its first 12 months and spun off an adult-contemporary radio staple in the ballad “Don’t Know Why”; in early 2003, Jones’ music won Grammy Awards for album, record and song of the year while she was named best new artist.
Since then, Jones has used her talent and her curiosity — not to mention the resources she enjoys as one of the last success stories of the CD era — to pursue all kinds of projects, including collaborations with Willie Nelson, Danger Mouse and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong; a scrappy country trio called Puss N Boots; a podcast in which she jams with friends like Dave Grohl and Mavis Staples; even a foray into acting with her role in Wong Kar-wai’s 2007 film “My Blueberry Nights.”
Yet her latest offering is her most interesting in years: “Visions,” a funky, gently psychedelic garage-soul record that puts her sultry vocals amid fuzzy
