Not Too Late

Not Too Late
Studio album by Norah Jones
Released January 30, 2007
Recorded Summer 2005–Fall 2006 at
New York City, New York
The Coop
Brooklyn Recording
Genre Jazz, blues, folk
Length 45:22
Label Blue Note, EMI
Producer Lee Alexander
Norah Jones chronology
Feels like Home
(2004)		 Not Too Late
(2007)		 The Fall
(2009)
Alternative cover
Deluxe edition cover
Singles from Not Too Late
  1. "Thinking About You"
    Released: December 5, 2006
  2. "Not Too Late"
    Released: February 13, 2007
  3. "Sinkin' Soon"
    Released: March 26, 2007
  4. "Until the End"
    Released: May 21, 2007

Not Too Late is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Norah Jones, released on January 30, 2007, through Blue Note Records. It was produced by Lee Alexander, the songwriter and bassist featured on Jones's previous albums, Come Away with Me and Feels like Home. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making it Jones' third consecutive number one album.[1]

Background and recording

Jones wrote most of the songs on the album when she was on tour during 2004 and 2005; for example, "Until the End" was written in the South Pacific, "Rosie's Lullaby" in Australia, and "The Sun Doesn't Like You" in Brazil.[2] Jones wrote "Thinking About You" in 1999 with Ilhan Ersahin, her then-bandmate in Wax Poetic, but she thought it was too much of a pop song for her to record and rejected a version she recorded for Feels like Home.[3] Jones had an acoustic guitar with her on the tour and wrote more songs with it than she previously had: "The guitar is simple and a lot easier to carry than a piano", she said.[2]

After the tour concluded, Jones began recording the album with Alexander, who "tweak[ed]" the lyrics of the songs and "pulled [them] into better shape", according to Jones.[2] Not Too Late was mostly recorded at Jones's home studio and is the first album Jones recorded without producer Arif Mardin, who died in the summer of 2006. Jones described the sessions as "fun, relaxed and easy" and without a deadline; executives at Blue Note Records reportedly did not know they were recording an album. Many of the sessions were "spur of the moment", with friends of Jones and musicians they recommended being asked to play.[2] The album features guest appearances by organist Larry Goldings, singer-songwriter M. Ward, and Kronos Quartet cellist Jeff Ziegler. Jones said the songs on the album are "not so cut-and-dried" compared to her earlier material and have "a twist to them". In contrast to her previous albums, the piano, organ and Wurlitzer are not as prominent as the guitar: "the piano is always loud in the mix, but I've never been into it being the main rhythm instrument unless we're playing something funky. I've always liked the guitar as the rhythmic instrument", Jones explained.[2]

Reception

Critical reviews

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic68/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[6]
The Guardian[7]
Los Angeles Times[8]
The Observer[9]
PopMatters(7/10)[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Slant Magazine"[12]
Sputnikmusic[13]
StylusB−[14]

Not Too Late received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 68 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" based on 23 reviews.[4]

Mojo gave the album four stars out of five and said that its majority "hums with a placid darkness and neurosis which is as delicious as it is unexpected."[4] Uncut also gave it four stars and said, "What's especially daring about Not Too Late is the degree to which Jones and [producer Lee] Alexander trust their songs and her languorous voice to hold the listener's interest."[4] musicOMH likewise gave it four stars and said that "This collection of quaint, feel-good numbers is not going to set the world alight, but it offers something warm and comforting to come home to."[15] Now gave it the similar four stars out of five score and called it "A very good showcase for Jones's evolution as a writer and musician."[16] The Phoenix gave it three stars out of four and said of Jones, "Too good to hate, not exciting enough to love, she still makes most of what’s out there sound like phony baloney."[17] Hartford Courant gave it a positive review and also said of Jones, "Subtlety was a defining characteristic of her first two records, and it carries over onto 'Not Too Late,' where even the differences are understated and discreet."[18]

Other reviews are average or mixed: The Austin Chronicle gave the album three stars out of five and said, "Jones has concocted a pleasing effort underneath its delicate air."[19] Yahoo! Music UK gave it six stars out of ten and called it "Norah's most personal collection of songs to date."[20] Drowned in Sound likewise gave it a score of six out of ten and said that while the album "is a shade darker than her mega-selling, Grammy-winning template, it's highly unlikely to win all that many new converts, and fans may find this album a little bit of a slog in places."[21] Q gave it three stars out of five and said, "With a surfeit of samey country-rock ballads, Not Too Late ultimately proves rather a long haul."[4] Blender gave the album two stars out of five and said that "the results are a mutant virus of gorgeous and bland, grainy and slick."[4] The Village Voice gave it a mixed review and stated that Jones' voice "is still 'that voice,' but gravity was never what made it fly."[22]

Accolades

By January 29, 2007, the album had become the most pre-ordered album of all time on Amazon.com, Jones' second album after Feels like Home to reach the merchant's all-time top ten pre-order list.[23]

The first single from the album was "Thinking About You", which was released in the U.S. in early December 2006 and was one of the first songs by a major artist to be available for paid digital download in mp3 format.[24] "Not Too Late" was released as a radio single in Taiwan in early 2007.[25] For the week beginning January 23, the entire album was streamed on VH1.com's "Hear Music First" program.[26] Jones recorded an hour-long performance for UK BBC radio and television that was aired in late January,[27] and she performed via simulcast on the feature Live@BT: Norah Jones for Canada's Citytv in early February.[28][29] The third single from the album was "Sinkin' Soon", released in March.[30]

Jones was scheduled to embark on a twenty-two date concert tour of North America, beginning on April 13 and ending on May 12. One of the dates was to take place at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, on April 28.[31] On February 16, 2008, Not Too Late re-entered the Greek International Albums Chart at number fourteen and climbed to number thirteen the next week.[32] On August 18, the album returned to the top ten on the French Albums Chart and reached number seven.[33]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Wish I Could"  Norah Jones, Lee Alexander 4:17
2. "Sinkin' Soon"  Jones, Alexander 4:37
3. "The Sun Doesn't Like You"  Jones, Alexander 2:59
4. "Until the End"  Jones, Alexander 3:55
5. "Not My Friend"  Jones 2:54
6. "Thinking About You"  Jones, Ilhan Ersahin 3:20
7. "Broken"  Jones, Alexander 3:20
8. "My Dear Country"  Jones 3:24
9. "Wake Me Up"  Jones, Alexander 2:46
10. "Be My Somebody"  Jones 3:36
11. "Little Room"  Jones 2:43
12. "Rosie's Lullaby"  Jones, Daru Oda 3:56
13. "Not Too Late"  Jones, Alexander 3:31
Total length:
 45:22
Japan bonus track

Deluxe version DVD

  1. "Thinking About You" – music video
  2. "Sinkin' Soon" – music video
  3. "Until the End" – music video
  4. "Thinking About You" – Making of....
  5. "Sinkin' Soon" – Making of....
  6. "Until the End" – live performance filmed in Burbank, CA, in November 2006
  7. "Sinkin' Soon" – live performance filmed in Burbank, CA, in November 2006
  8. "12 minutes interview" – with Norah Jones

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.[34]

Musicians
Technical personnel

Commercial performance

Not Too Late debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 405,000.[1] According to Nielsen SoundScan, it was the 18th highest selling album of 2007 in the US, with 1.5 million copies sold.[35] In the United Kingdom, it entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, becoming the 800th number-one album in the history of the chart;[36] it sold 60,500 copies in its first week.[37] It debuted at number five in Japan, opening with sales of 36,400 copies;[38] in Canada, the album entered at number one with opening week sales of 36,000.[39] In Australia, it entered the ARIA Albums Chart at number two and was certified gold with shipments of 35,000 copies.[40] The album reached number one in seventeen countries, including Germany and France. (For more information, see Charts.) According to a press release from EMI, Not Too Late is certified gold or platinum in twenty-one countries as of February 2007.[41] In February, the IFPI awarded the album a platinum certification for shipping one million copies in Europe.[42]

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[43] 2
Austrian Albums Chart[43] 1
Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart[43] 1
Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart[43] 1
Canadian Albums Chart[44] 1
Danish Albums Chart[43] 1
Dutch Albums Chart[43] 1
European Top 100 Albums[45] 1
Finnish Albums Chart[43] 1
French Albums Chart[43] 1
German Albums Chart[44] 1
Irish Albums Chart[44] 2
Italian Albums Chart[43] 5
Japanese Albums Chart[46] 5
New Zealand Albums Chart[43] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[43] 1
Polish Albums Chart[44] 1
Portuguese Albums Chart[43] 5
Spanish Albums Chart[43] 3
Swedish Albums Chart[43] 1
Swiss Albums Chart[43] 1
UK Albums Chart[44] 1
US Billboard 200[44] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[47] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[48] 2× Platinum 60,000*
Belgium (BEA)[49] 2× Platinum 100,000*
Brazil (ABPD)[50] Gold 30,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[51] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[52] Gold 20,000^
France (SNEP)[53] Platinum 248,000[54]*
Germany (BVMI)[55] Platinum 200,000^
Ireland (IRMA)[56] Gold 7,500^
Japan (RIAJ)[57] Gold 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[58] Gold 7,500^
Poland (ZPAV)[59] Platinum 20,000*
Sweden (GLF)[60] Gold 20,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[61] 2× Platinum 60,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[62] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[63] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[64] Platinum 1,000,000*

References

  1. 1 2 Cohen, Jonathan. "Better 'Late' Than Never: Jones Debuts At No. 1". Billboard. February 7, 2007. Retrieved February 7, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Widran, Jonathan. "Norah Jones Talks About Co-Writing All The Songs For Her Upcoming New Album, Not Too Late". SongwriterUniverse Magazine. Retrieved February 4, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Norah Jones - Not Too Late / Thinking Of You". ilikemusic.com. Retrieved January 26, 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Critic Reviews for Not Too Late". Metacritic. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Not Too Late - Norah Jones — Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  6. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
  7. ↑ The Guardian review
  8. ↑ Los Angeles Times review
  9. ↑ The Observer review
  10. ↑ PopMatters review
  11. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  12. ↑ Keefe, Jonathan (March 11, 2007). "Norah Jones: Not too Late". Slant Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  13. ↑ Sputnikmusic review
  14. ↑ Stylus review
  15. ↑ musicOMH review
  16. ↑ Now review
  17. ↑ The Phoenix review
  18. ↑ Hartford Courant review
  19. ↑ The Austin Chronicle review
  20. ↑ Yahoo! Music UK review
  21. ↑ Drowned in Sound review
  22. ↑ The Village Voice review
  23. ↑ "Norah Jones' "Not Too Late" Becomes Most Pre-Ordered Album of All Time on Amazon.com". Business Wire. January 29, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  24. ↑ Smith, Ethan and Wingfield, Nick. "In a Turnabout, Record Industry Releases MP3s". The Wall Street Journal. December 6, 2006, p. B1. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  25. ↑ "International Album Chart". ICRT. February 10 – February 16, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2007.
  26. ↑ "VH1 Digital Grooves Into 2007 With New Installments of Its 'Box Set' and '[email protected]' Series". PR Newswire. January 11, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  27. ↑ Perrone, Pierre. "Norah Jones, LSO, St Luke's, London". The Independent. January 15, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  28. ↑ "A CHUM Television Exclusive Performance "Live@BT: Norah Jones"". Canada NewsWire. January 23, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  29. ↑ Reaney, James. "A-Channel has Jones simulcast". The London Free Press. January 31, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  30. ↑ "Norah Jones - Sinkin' Soon in March". CD Times. March 23, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2007.
  31. ↑ Cohen, Jonathan. "Norah Jones Plots Out Spring Tour". Billboard. February 1, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  32. ↑ Greek International Albums Chart. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  33. ↑ French Albums Chart. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  34. ↑ "Not Too Late - Norah Jones - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  35. ↑ Barnes, Ken. "Rap was the biggest loser in sales in 2007". USA Today. January 3, 2008.
  36. ↑ "Jones scores UK's 800th top album". BBC News. February 4, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  37. ↑ Music Week. February 10, 2007.
  38. ↑ "Album - Weekly ranking". Oricon. February 5, 2007.
  39. ↑ Williams, John. "Norah Jones blasts to No. 1". JAM! Showbiz. February 8, 2007. Retrieved February 8, 2007.
  40. ↑ "Top 50 Albums Chart" Archived October 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.. ARIA. February 5, 2007.
  41. ↑ "Norah Jones' "Not Too Late" debuts at #1 in the world's key markets". EMI. February 7, 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2007.
  42. ↑ European Certifications
  43. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Norah Jones - Not Too Late". Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  44. 1 2 3 4 5 6 http://acharts.us/album/14831
  45. ↑ http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20070220-0000/issue885.pdf
  46. ↑ http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/287861/products/music/696307/1/
  47. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2007 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  48. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Norah Jones – Not Too Late" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Norah Jones in the field Interpret. Enter Not Too Late in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  49. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2007". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
  50. ↑ "Brazilian album certifications – Norah Jones – Not Too Late" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos.
  51. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Norah Jones – Not Too Late". Music Canada.
  52. ↑ "Danish album certifications – Norah Jones – Not Too Late". IFPI Denmark. Click on næste to go to page if certification from official website
  53. ↑ "French album certifications – Norah Jones – Not Too Late" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  54. ↑ http://www.infodisc.fr/CDCertif_P.php?debut=450
  55. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Norah Jones; 'Not Too Late')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  56. ↑ "Irish album certifications – Norah Jones – Not Too Late". Irish Recorded Music Association.
  57. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – Norah Jones – Not Too Late" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan.
  58. ↑ "New Zealand album certifications – Norah Jones – Not Too Late". Recorded Music NZ.
  59. ↑ "Polish album certifications – Norah Jones – Not Too Late" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
  60. ↑ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2007" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  61. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Norah Jones; 'Not Too Late')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  62. ↑ "British album certifications – Norah Jones – Not Too Late". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Not Too Late in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  63. ↑ "American album certifications – Norah Jones – Not Too Late". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  64. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2007". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
Preceded by
Late Night Special by Pretty Ricky
Infinity on High by Fall Out Boy		 U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album
February 11, 2007 – February 17, 2007
February 25, 2007 – March 10, 2007 		Succeeded by
Infinity on High by Fall Out Boy
Daughtry by Daughtry
Preceded by
Hats Off to the Buskers by The View		 UK number one album
February 4, 2007 – February 10, 2007 		Succeeded by
Life in Cartoon Motion by Mika
Studio albums
Compilations
Other albums
Singles
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