Norah Jones
Feels Like Home
On Sale Now
For $13.28

Two years, eight Grammys and eight million albums later, the release of the Jones' follow-up, Feels like Home, has become a major media event much to no one’s surprise. Her angelic face has decorated a myriad of articles in major publications, VH1 made the disc obtainable for listening on the Internet a week ago, and major ads are proclaiming the record as yet another homegrown masterpiece from the amicable brunette with the heart of platinum.

The sensually alluring success voice that carried Come Away with Me made Jones one of the biggest music phenomenons in years. Jazzy with a dash of folk awareness, the album wasn't even expected to sell 100,000 copies let alone the millions it would later continue to sell to this day. Yet Jones' misty vocals on the album's first single, "Don't Know Why," resonated with listeners, young and old. It became a word-of-mouth hit -- despite never getting major radio play from mainstream radio until late in the game. Personally, I thought Come Away with Me did everything right. In the midst of boob jobs and magazine dolls, out of nowhere comes an unpretentious, unassuming voice that sets the night to candlelight tranquility. It was the kind of record that made you feel completely at ease without forcing grandiose sentiments straight down your windpipe. As a fan of everything from Sarah Vaughn to Nina Simone, the arrival of Norah Jones was more of a welcome breath of fresh air to me as opposed to hearing ten more Godsmack posers engulfing the mainstream.

Though Jones has now become a widely-accepted mainstream artist, Feels Like Home, has stripped-down, low-key, rootsy inclinations. The biggest departure may be its plunky country twinkles – the legendary Dolly Parton even duets on the uppidity horse-trotting two-step track “Creepin In.” Jones, a longtime Parton fan, says she and her bandmates were indulging in a lot of bluegrass and country while making the record last year and it shows on a couple of tracks that don’t follow the familiar formula of her predecessor. There are more upbeat numbers as opposed to the countless fireplace ballads featured on her debut which makes the record even more inconspicuous and inoffensive. The key to Jones’ accomplishment is that she’s diverse without really stretching her precincts, thus offering a little bit of something to like for every age group.

But then there’s the backlash of those who think she’s too ineffectual, as if her music only serves as background stuffing for board meetings at coffeehouses. This may very well be the case, because there is not much of a variation from the first record to this one. However, since the musicality never turns me off, I don’t find myself growing tired of it, even if the singles are tenaciously radio killed. Many do feel she’s too cute, too pedestrian and too harmless for some who are already sick of the blushingly harmonious first single “Sunrise” which is exactly the kind of song you should be falling asleep to as opposed to waking up to. But there’s no denying the unabashedly elegant delivery of Jones, who tenderly opens up to the microphone without belting her heart out. Whereas Beyonce and Aguilera seem to think that the key to singing is primarily bending scales repeatedly into the ground, Jones is the exact opposite of that style. The melodies transmit from her vocal cords to our ears gracefully, and the songwriting is just as strong. The best and most undemanding moment is saved for last during “Don’t Miss You At All” when Jones adds lyrics to a Duke Ellington instrumental that finds her alone at her piano.

Norah has got soul, jazz, folk, and old-school country on her IPOD. It’s plain to hear that through every component of each track, from the refined yet simplistic lyrics to the delicate chord alterations, that Jones is stimulated and inspired by traditional material from the olden days which gives her grace and confidence. It may be true that the representation perpetuated by her self-effacing intentions is starting to cave in and plummet the magazine stands, but people have forgotten about the music in the midst of materialism. The fact remains that Feels Like Home sounds like heaven, and in its purest form, touches the heart without ever forcing tears or false emotion. For all intents and purposes, I may be easily seduced by Jones’ talent and her bashful sincerity, but when it comes down to it: this is fragile music, which is so easy on the ears that track by track it becomes the melodic counterpart of Vicodin. It’s just as addicting, too. When a girl as soft-spoken and stunning as Norah Jones invites her listener to “Be Here to Love Me,” it’s kind of hard not to take her up on that offer.

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