Norah Jones, Songwriter

Norah Jones returns with Not Too Late, a collection of self-penned tunes. Will this be another mega hit or will this one fall short? Folk101 surveys the din for you.

Norah Jones burst onto the music scene in 2002 with her über-successful, Come Away With Me, which sold over 20 million copies worldwide and won 8 Grammy Awards.

She followed these accomplishments with another solid effort, 2004’s Feels Like Home and her side-project, The Little Willies.

The latter represents a welcomed change from Jones’ typical, laid-back, jazzy style as The Willies (apparently named for Jones’ hero, Willie Nelson) play, for the most part, an upbeat, swinging version of old-school country.

After all this success, what could the extraordinary Ms. Jones do next? Well, she decided to ring in 2007 with an important milestone in her career. Her new album, Not Too Late, features songs exclusively written or co-written by the sexy songstress.

Initial critical reaction has been up and down. Here is a collection of reviews that seemed particularly apt from Now Toronto, the LA Times, Coke Machine Glow, and Rolling Stone.

Fear not, faithful readers. Folk101 will help you cut through the media din and let you know if there will be another truck-load of shiny statues on the horizon for Norah, or if this one is destined to be one of the “lesser known” albums in what is sure to be a long and fruitful career.

Until we post our review, you can entertain yourself with some of the recent press onslaught that comes with a big-name release.

Check out the New York Times’ portrait of the singer (It’s worth it just to see their adorable picture of Jones in her Oscar the Grouch tee-shirt). Also, there is NPR’s great feature/review of the record.

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Peace.