Norah Jones – Visions Review

Those jolts of energy some have in the dead of night should be followed more often. Break the cycle of those adrenalin-pumping moments before bed, the idea we will create and do great things should we get up in time to do so. Visions, the latest piece from Norah Jones, was cobbled together as ideas struck in those small wee hours of the night. Let Jones jolt you awake with this latest record, the lush jazz modernity, and its structured embrace of smooth soul. It feels like a flash of the times which passed most listeners by, for they were not born at a time when Aretha Franklin and Frank Sinatra were dispelling their talents. But for those who missed out and need a modern hit, Jones has you covered. Visions could not be sharper, lusher or stronger than it is. 

From its 1970s aesthetic, from the colours of the cover to the feel of Staring at the Wall with its striking, moody guitar work working independent from its central vocal performance, Jones has captured the times and expanded them. This is not just a traipse through the past but a modernisation, a wonderful experience of old designs under new guidance. Queen of the Sea has more of an emotive conscience than most pop fillers. All it needs is the mess made and the triumph to follow – something which is lost in the artificial wordplay of the modern spectacle. But such is the life of Jones, whose attempts at showcasing the world around her come through a dependable catalogue of calmer tones reminiscent of those soulful, earnest qualities. Visions is packed full of that.  

Between the delightful flickers of childhood found in the piano strokes of I’m Awake to a more upbeat turn on Running, Jones has considered the effect of her music as lounge pop and felt comfortable with its categorisation. It is elevated somewhat by the turns of phrase, the feeling of the every day made spectacular as we find ourselves swept up in the moment. Now is harder than ever to feel this way, the likes of Swept Up in the Night try brutally hard to extract a listener from the toils of the real world – and it very nearly works. Darker instrumentals on On My Way consider the endless travel between the alleged highs of life and in comes this sense of choice paralysis. Visions is all about finding the confidence to carry on, even when the heyday has passed us by and we tumble further and further into this sense of scraping by. 

Be alone with your thoughts then, as penultimate track Alone With My Thoughts suggests. There is hope in isolation and thinking over your time ahead, three months struck from the year already, is a hell of a wake-up call. Album closer That’s Life has much of the same promise to it. In a familiar tone, Jones finds a way to revive the classic flourishes of a genre long passed, as The Lemon Twigs do too. But for Jones, the focus is not on surf rock and having fun in the sun, but on internalising the greats, the sense of pride filtering through in this hope of reaching their lofty works and the impact they had. Jones plants twelve exceptional tracks in the mind and kindles the fires of reflection. These are the songs which spark some sense of hope in truly dark days.