Norah Jones: Come Away With Me : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Singer and pianist Norah Jones begins her debut with a confessional tale called "Don't Know Why," a little shrug of a song about the call she couldn't make to a lover and the ensuing missed hookup. She sings as though this one ordinary incident has unraveled her world -- she sounds weary and tense, puzzled by a sudden lack of bravery, haunted by what could have been, overcome with regret. Jones takes her sweet time illuminating these emotional ripples, and the restraint makes that track -- and all of Come Away With Me -- a quietly captivating triumph of torch song. Her voice might be set to permanent smolder, but the Dallas-born singer, whose father is Ravi Shankar, doesn't act like your typical cabaret diva: She understands the desolate hurt of Hank Williams ("Cold Cold Heart" is one of the album's most effective covers) and the gloomy melancholy of Billie Holiday, knows her way around the late-night moans of Memphis soul and the veiled desire of tango ("I've Got to See You Again" echoes the dance's slithering sensuality). Yet for all this gathering of handed-down wisdom, and all the distinct shades of blue that color her interpretations, Jones rarely sounds like a slick purveyor of saloon heartbreak. She sings in an earthy growl that can send chills, or a conspiratorial whisper that suggests she's sharing sworn secrets, or a weary sigh that exudes the kind of quiet, easygoing intimacy that doesn't come around in songs too much anymore.