Norah Jones - 'Not Too Late' (EMI) Release date 29/01/07

Having slipped under the doors of the mass consciousness like an eery mist taking the 30 something female of the species in thrall, the Grammy-bagging Grand Dame du Jour rolls out with this her  'songwriting album' and 11 self-penned songs, a departure from delivering versions of her peers. Picturing affairs close to her heart including a clever ditty about election day and a Kurt Weillian-style rag, the honeyed vocals are pure as clover and purt as apple pie, the tempos mild of manner - Norah is never one to blow a storm when a waft will do. Tunes range from the lazy to slumbering with degrees of rocking chair motion and country arias.

'Wish I Could' has Kronos Quartet cellist Jeff Zeigler accompany a country-folk dainty about spaces created by someone's absence to Norah's cooing, and 'Until The End' brings the Patsy Cline themes of the no good man who's hurt you so many times - "...like a child/ you forget...". Ragtime 'Sinkin' Soon' strikes the banjo for this Mariner's Tale accompanied by 4AD's M Ward - "...we're going to be sinkin' soon..." with a muted-trumpet crawing like a crow and Norah's range stoking the jazz every inch a Kurt Weill nugget. Nick Drake melodies crop up with 'The Sun Doesn't Like You' and a tune as vast as the plains evoking J.J. Cale. 'Thinking About You' has a clever 'I Will Survive' vein about button-pressing partners who are "...just like the boys who laughed at me at school..." with a gorgeous harp-like melody. Things get all too much smoochy and gooey-oozy on 'Thinking About You' and limp on 'Wake Me Up', with 'Not Too Late' layering on the ganache.

'My Dear Country' may be Norah's best song and bag some respect with a politically-inspired tune with Norah and piano juxtaposing Election Day with Halloween spooks and the scary reality of what has come to pass in the polling booths - "...who knows maybe the plans will change/ who knows maybe he's not deranged..." - a classy ballad-politik. 'Rosie's Lullaby' is the cool understated classic she gets credited for like 'Sail Away' - a track with alt-country graces.  
 
Norah's playful songwriting shows through on 'Sinkin' Soon' with comparisons of the sun to a wheel of cheese and 'Be My Somebody' with the word's that are coming out/ of your crooked spout...". 'Not Too Late' may not be Norah's finest moment, but then her fans probably ain't gonna quarrel too much. An album for cat-loving singletons and cross-generation Bridget Jones's.