If you need the musical equivalent to a cup of hot chocolate, look no further. Norah Jones’ new compilation is a sure way to fight off the winter cold.
Norah Jones has been in seriously good company on this album. . . . Featuring 2010 is an album solely composed of Norah Jones’ collaborations with other musicians picked from a musical pool gathered over the last decade.
Ray Charles, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton are among the many well-known musicians featured on this album that present listeners with 18 soothing tracks.
Some artists seem like obvious choices to match Jones’ jazzy folksy tunes such as Scottish indie band Belle and Sebastian or Herbie Hancock. Others are surprising to say the least.
It is clear that working with artists like OutKast or Foo Fighters who are considered to be in genres far from Jones’ own has taken her out of her comfort zone. The results are not bad, not bad at all, in fact. It suits Jones to break away from the smoothness of her previous work and show some teeth with some funkier, upbeat songs.
Experimenting a bit does not take away from the songs on . . . Featuring 2010. Even hardcore Norah Jones fans will recognize her distinct sound throughout the album. Although the music is in no way groundbreaking, it is a pleasure to listen to Norah Jones’ playful experiments.
-Katrine Sorensen
