Norah Jones Pick Me Up Off the Floor LP (Black on Red Vinyl)

TAS Rated 4.5/5 Music, 4.5/5 Sonics in the September 2020 Issue of The Absolute Sound!

Michael Fremer Rated 9/11 Music, 7/11 Sonics!

Norah Jones' seventh solo studio album, Pick Me Up Off The Floor, features collaborators from Brian Blade to Jeff Tweedy. The project grew out of her acclaimed singles series of the past two years, as the songs she hadn't yet released unexpectedly congealed into an album of tremendous depth and beauty. The songs were connected by the sly groove of her piano trios, lyrics that confront loss and portend hope, and a mood that leans into darkness before ultimately finding the light.

A less abstract 'Astral Weeks' for the here and now, 'Floor' is further proof of how Jones continues to mop up the competition with unequaled style and grace.

So subtly drawn is this album, so delicately delivered are the dewdrop arrangements that it might take more than a few listenings for it to fully draw you in but once it does, the parts fit well together and the ingenuity of the arrangements will register. I'm thinking in particular of 'It Hurts to Be Alone', which includes an ingenious mix of subtle, easy to miss elements hiding in plain sight.