With the success of "Come Away With Me" came the assumption that Jones was just another one-hit wonder, a cliche she escapes with her sophomore release, "Feels Like Home." Fans of Jones's jazzy style might be surprised on the first listen: Jones's voice is as lovely as ever, but where "Come Away With Me" is cool and jazzy, "Feels Like Home" is warmer and earthier. Instead of singing jazz standards like "Cold Cold Heart," "Turn Me On" and "The Nearness of You," she covers Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan's "The Long Way Home" and Townes Van Zandt's "Be Here to Love Me." Overall, the hint of country that tinged "Come Away With Me," especially in the wistful "Lonestar," is more an overriding theme of this album. "I'm glad that people liked the last album," Jones said, perhaps anticipating a critical reaction from her fans to her slightly changed style. "It was where I was at the time, musically. This is where I am now."
The new album features Jones's core group, the Handsome Band, composed of guitarists Adam Levy and Kevin Breit, background singer Daru Oda, bassist Lee Alexander and drummer Andrew Borger, which came together after the release of "Come Away With Me" and toured with her in 2003. In addition to vocals, Jones regularly contributes performances on the piano, pump organ and Wurlitzer electric piano.
Though still decidedly mellow and low-key, "Feels Like Home" is a more musically diverse album than "Come Away With Me," featuring Jones experiments with more varied tempos and genres. She opens on an up-tempo note (relatively speaking, of course) with the first single, "Sunrise," a bright, sensual number Jones co-wrote with her bassist and boyfriend, Lee Alexander, in which she croons, "Looks like morning in your eyes / But the clock's held 9:15 for hours ... / And I said / Oooo, oooo, oooo / To you."
One of the stand-out tracks on the album is "Carnival Town," which features cello and viola arrangements and beautiful, haunting vocals: "Did the clown / Make you smile / He was only your fool for a while / Now he's gone back home / And left you wandering there / Is it lonely?"
I also like "Humble Me," a waltzy, sparely arranged song in which Jones wonders, "What do you say / When it's all gone away?" and the lovely "Those Sweet Words." "Creepin' In" boasts a surprising performance by Dolly Parton and proves a catchy, credible, two-stepping, knee-slapping country song. For the last song, "Don't Miss You At All," Jones wrote lyrics to Duke Ellington's "Melancholia," resulting in a soft, affecting piano-vocal duet that was the highlight of her June 2003 performances at the Beacon Theatre in New York City: "And then I wonder who I am / Without the warm touch of your hand."
Overall, "Feels Like Home" is a more varied and interesting album than "Come Away With Me"-perhaps even a better album-but it is less immediately likable, especially after the success of her first release. On this album, Jones is confident enough to branch out, work with different songwriters. She ditched "Don't Know Why" writer Jesse Harris-though he does appear as a guest guitarist-and she tries different tempos and musical styles.
At nearly 25 years old, Jones sounds truly comfortable, confident and in her element. If you liked the jazzy coolness of "Come Away With Me," you might be a little disappointed after hearing "Feels Like Home," but give it a few listens, and it will definitely grow on you. After all, with a voice like hers, how could Norah Jones do wrong?