by John Lee

Created on: February 01, 2007   Last Updated: December 26, 2010

Being a fan of most of Norah Jones' previous works, I immediately ran out and got this album as soon as it came out. I popped it into my CD player and sat back in my bed and enjoyed the beautiful music. The album starts of with a very heartfelt song about losing a boyfriend to the war. This song carries a resounding message in todays society, and is the first of two politically motivated songs. The song has beautiful string arrangements and is an altogether great song. The album moves onto "Sinkin' Soon" which feels like a classic Blue Note song from the 40's jazz era. J. Walter Hawkes plays trombone on this track, and makes sounds I've never heard a trombone make, quite amazing indeed. Then the album moves onto "The Sun Doesn't Like You, Until The End, Not My Friend, and Thinking About You." These are all very good, well written songs, but they drag along ever so slightly. The album moves onto "Broken" which is another song with very nice string arrangements, and a pretty cool jazz guitar solo.

Then comes a song called "My Dear Country." This song explains the fear Jones' has of election day and the governmental process. The line "we believed in out candidate, but even more it's the one we hate" seems to me like it could be a little shot at George W. Bush. The next song is "Be My Somebody." This song has a very catchy rhythm coupled with extremely catchy vocal melodies. This song quickly became my favorite of the Album. Then the album moves onto the song "Little Room" which has an awesome whistling solo. The album finally ends with its title track, "Not Too Late." The songs declares that it's "not too late for love, and it's not easy to change but nothing worth the time ever is." Two statements I find to be very true.

In summary, I think this a great album. The songs are all very well structured, the music is well written, and Jones' voice... I know I haven't said a thing about it thus far. Don't worry, her voice is just as good, if not better, than it was on her previous albums. Whenever I hear her voice I always imagine myself in some small jazz club back in the 1940's. Few artists can really invoke that amount of feeling in their records, but Jones does it very well. As an aspiring music producer I must say that this album sounds great. Tom Schick did a great job of recording and mixing this album. Every instrument from the Wurlitzer to the Hammond B-3 organ to the pots and pans on "Sinkin' Soon" have there own place in the mix and can shine all their own. Which reminds me of another thing I really like about this album; the instrumentation. Instruments like mandolin, trombone, trumpet, sax, B-3 organ, Wurlitzer, mellotron, string sections, and even pots and pans are used to create a very lush sound scape. If you are a fan of Norah Jones' previous albums you will definitely enjoy "Not Too Late." But don't just take my word for it, go out and get it for yourself so you can see how it affects you personally. Music is a different experience for everyone.

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