Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Musically, the song counterbalances the existential weight with an evocative string arrangement from Paul Wiancko, curls of violin like birds darting through the sky, viola dropping like rain on growing flowers.When daily life in modern America feels compounded by an endless array of issues and calls for hope, Jones’ songs pare away details to let the big moments speak for themselves. Walking the fine line between vague and blunt can be tricky, and “Pick Me Up Off the Floor” keeps itself squarely on the latter. Now, on her seventh LP. And though the solution to her pain may seem easy — love, right there in front of Jones’ face — there’s a revelatory power to the sway, and comfort in the conviction.Other experiments leave behind the political sphere to push into more personal territory, though again leaving room for listeners to feel every word without the weight of distance or minutiae. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates.Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our There are no Independent Premium comments yet - be the first to add your thoughtsPlease be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughtsNorah Jones is far more daring than most would believeNorah Jones’s new album is one of her most intriguing in years
Perhaps she hasn’t gone far enough since the tone of the ballad-heavy album could use a little more juice to mix things up. Pick Me up off the Floor shines from the start. Co-written by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, the song uses a nameless “she” as a stand-in for Jones herself and women around the world. “To live in this moment and finally be free / Is what I was after, no chains holding me,” she sings over the gospel-tinted, horn-laden track. As the track ends, Jones’ heart is caught behind in brambles, the loss felt deeply, though the minimalist lyrics only hint at the story. Collection of songs is cohesive but draws on an inspired and eclectic range of influencesWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? The album’s title even reckons with that dual strength, laid out and calling out for someone to lend a hand. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. It’s incredibly rare for “leftovers” to comprise a cohesive album, but “Pick Me Up Off the Floor” does just that.Though stretching its borders from stormcloud blues to orchestral jazz pop to lithe Motown, the album is tied together by Jones’ ineffable ability to convey big emotions with simplicity.
© Copyright 2020 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. Read Next: Lady Gaga Lives for the Applause of ‘Chromatica,’ Praises Producer Tchami for Getting the Album to Its Happy Place “Heartbroken, day after, our world is wasting away,” she offers, only to rebut herself, as if responding to the tears of the listener. “He screams, he shouts / The heads on the TV bow / They take the bait / They mirror waves of hate,” Jones adds — a straightforward yet no less affecting summation of the last few years in American politics.Elsewhere, “To Live” digs into more oppression, but aches to break through. “Flame Twin” slinks and burns like a breakup funk track, and “Heaven Above” (another Tweedy collaboration) rides Jones’ lithe piano and lapping waves of guitar into the sunset, looking up at the sky for signs of a lost love.While it may not be soundtracking any marches or precisely match any singular breakup, Jones’ latest captures big-picture feelings of anxiety, fear, loss and hope. Start your Independent Premium subscription today.The build of “I’m Alive”, an understated tribute to the resilience of women, is bright with Jones’ signature, gospel-influenced piano rolls. A variety of discomforts put Jones down, but the process of rendering them in song is an act of uplift.Rather than set out to record an album, Jones initially cobbled together a series of studio sessions as one-offs, expecting to come away with a few songs to round out the 2019 singles collection “Begin Again.” Even after releasing those songs, however, she found herself sitting with a surplus of material. Its opener, “How I Weep,” makes its sorrow felt in the subtle interplay between her piano, Paul Wiancko’s cello, and Ayane Kozasa’s violin. “Pick Me Up Off the Floor” is a cohesive journey reflecting both tragically and sweetly on the amorphous cloud of heartache that lingers in these moments of pain, offering a hand to help us out of the fog. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. Whether singing about existential dread, finding hope in darkness or the pain of heartbreak, Jones gracefully translates those feelings into intimate moments of personal action and emotion.
Pick Me Up Off the Floor proves her instincts were correct. Album highlight “Heartbroken, Day After” sells both the angst and the yearning within words of each other.