Norah Jones let cravings guide her new album
Singer-songwriter releases new album ... and can’t wait to perform live
After being on a steady merry-goround of releasing an album and then embarking on a year-long tour since her 2002 debut Come Away With Me, writing and recording a new LP was the furthest thing from Norah Jones’s mind.
“I was trying not to make a new album,” she chuckles down the line from New York City. Instead, the nine-time Grammy winner, who has sold almost 50 million albums globally, tells Postmedia she wanted to make one-off singles with her friends following 2016’s Day Breaks.
The first batch of songs was assembled and released on last year’s Begin Again.
But there were other sonic blurs Jones couldn’t stop humming in her head. “I craved hearing them,” she says.
So she revisited some of those leftover tracks, thinking of ways to “shine them up,” for her seventh studio LP, Pick Me Up Off the Floor.
Now playing regular Thursday livestreams on her Facebook page, the New York-born daughter of sitar legend Ravi Shankar isn’t sure when things will return to normal, but in the meantime she’s enjoying being a mom to her two children and “feeling grateful for everything.”
Q The album was announced in March and the world has changed so much between then and now. What did you want it to mean to people then and what do you hope it means to them now?
A I usually try to let go of what other people are going to think or take away. When you release music, people always take it in a way that is personal to them, you can’t really control it. But I feel like the album has more meaning now than it did before. I think it had meaning to me, and I think people would have found something in it, but some of the songs have morphed into feeling very of-the-moment. They’re all sort of about human connection.
Q I’m Alive has lyrics such as “While the world implodes/ You just live without.” Was there a common theme you were thinking about when you were putting together this record?
A I think the common thread was just about being a human and going in and out of feeling lonely and wanting connection with other humans and coming out the other side of that. It’s what we all go through all the time in our lives. A lot of people go through it constantly. But that’s a theme that’s relevant to everyone living on this Earth. We’re just all going through it in a more intense way right now together.
Q How do you decide to revisit something you’ve written that you haven’t released or put on an album?
A I think for me, if I hear it in my head, it means I like it and I want to see what happens to it. I want to add strings to it. I want to fix one part and make it great. If you hear it a few times and you forget about it, I guess that’s when it’s time to let it go.
Q Which of the new songs were you most looking forward to playing in front of a live audience?
A The whole album. But it will happen someday. I just don’t know when. I miss playing music with other people. That’s what I miss the most, but it’s OK. It’s not OK for a lot of people who I employ and make a living doing this. But we’ll get back to it eventually. At least I was done with the record. I feel really grateful for that. I just finished it by the end of January and we completed mastering it by the end of February, so it was just barely done. I feel like that would have felt unsatisfying if I had been forced to leave it just kind of half done. But again, it’s all relative. This situation is so precarious for a lot of people. I feel like for some people this is a whole other world. But I’m glad to have music I can release.
Q What’s it been like to connect with fans through the Facebook concerts?
A It’s been really special for me because I haven’t been super active on social media. It’s not my forte, nor is it something I want to be my forte. But I feel like I found my way to do it and I’m really enjoying it. It’s been so good for me to have a reason to play music every week. I’m not somebody who goes in and practices. I’ve got little kids and they don’t really let you do that. So to have a little time every week where I’m trying to look through the song requests has been so fun and so special. If one person wants to hear a song and I get to play it for them that’s a nice thing.
Q How and when do you see live music returning after the lockdown?
A I don’t know the answer to that. I can’t wait, though.
Q People are at home, probably listening to music as they are reading this. What should they be listening to?
A A lot of live Bob Marley. His music is so joyful and it just makes you feel so good. I listen to this album by Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté called In the Heart of the Moon almost every day, and I have for like 15 years. I love to listen to that record in the morning. It’s a beautiful album and it kind of goes well with setting the tone for the day. It’s almost like a beautiful prayer. It also sounds kind of summery, so right now with the windows open it’s a beautiful start to the day.
To have a little time every week where I’m trying to look through the song requests has been so fun and so special.
Q What are you watching on television?
A Not as much as people with no kids (laughs). There’s been a lot of Trolls World Tour. I don’t have control over the TV. Then at night when I try to watch something I get so tired and
I just fall asleep. But I finally finished Homeland, which isn’t the lightest watch right now. For some reason, though, I was really into finishing that show and it was great. I also really love High Maintenance. It’s such a love letter to New York City.
Q What’s the best advice you ever got?
A (Laughs) Wait for a sec before sending that angry email. Sleep on it.
Pick Me Up Off the Floor is available now.