ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
You never know when inspiration might hit. For Norah Jones, songs have come late at night on the brink of oblivion.
NORAH JONES: Not full dreams but that moment when you're falling asleep, and then you have to wake yourself up and record it, otherwise you'll forget it.
SHAPIRO: In those semiconscious moments, she recorded voice memos and later turned them into tracks on her latest album "Visions."
JONES: They were just little snippets. Like, there's a song called "Running" on the album, which was a single. It was like, (singing) won't you come, Daddy, won't you come, Daddy?
But I'm like, whispering in the bathroom 'cause I don't want to wake anybody up. But in the end, it was (singing) keep running, oh, I keep running away.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUNNING")
JONES: (Singing) I keep running, oh, 'cause I don't want to pay. Stars shine but start to fade in the light. Love is blind, could be wrong, or it could be right.
SHAPIRO: Norah Jones and I chatted at the Tiny Desk here at NPR's Washington headquarters in front of a small audience of NPR employees and their guests. She brought in a band, and they performed a few songs from the new album, along with one of her classics.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PARADISE")
JONES: (Singing) La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (ph). Take me back to paradise. I could make the sacrifice. I'm trying to save you.
SHAPIRO: I think there's a consensus that your latest album, "Visions," is your most joyful music in a while - is how a lot of people describe it. Do you see it that way? And where do you think that comes from?
JONES: Well, I made this album with Leon Michels. He's a great musician and producer and friend. And this album kind of started with us just trying stuff in the studio together with him on drums and me on piano. And I can't even describe how fun it was to play like that, just the two of us. It was also sort of post-COVID, where - when you hadn't been out playing that much with other people.
SHAPIRO: The joy of actually being in a room with other musicians.
JONES: Yes. And just something about the way he has his groove and me on piano - he has a really cool piano in his studio too. It was just so joyful from the ground up. Most of the tracks were with he and I just like that, and then we threw everything on top of it after that. So it was just pure fun.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PARADISE")
JONES: (Singing) I watch you fall. I try to stop waiting for the pain to drop. I know I've got to let you go again. Although, I never wanted this to end. I know it's time to let you go.
SHAPIRO: You are so known as a pianist and a singer. For the song "Staring At The Wall," you picked up the electric guitar. Does that bring out something different in you?
JONES: Joy (laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF NORAH JONES SONG, "STARING AT THE WALL")
JONES: It's fun. Also, I think in the beginning, when I first started playing guitar, I never thought I would play it live. I mean, as much as I love the piano, and I'm connected to it, it's really nice to stand up and face the audience every once in a while, which is kind of a weird thing for piano players. It's like having a horse on stage, a beautiful horse...
SHAPIRO: (Laughter).
JONES: ...That - sort of between you and everyone. So it's nice to...
SHAPIRO: Every now and then, it's nice to get off the horse.
JONES: It's nice to get off the horse and look at everybody and move around a little.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STARING AT THE WALL")
JONES: (Vocalizing).
SHAPIRO: Do you feel insecure on the guitar in a way that you don't on the piano because you had so many years and so much history on the piano?
JONES: Depends on the song. I mean, I think I'm definitely a better piano player, but I stay in my lane on guitar. I don't try to get too crazy on it, you know?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COME AWAY WITH ME")
JONES: (Singing) Come away with me in the night.
SHAPIRO: OK, you ended the set with what may be one of the most beloved songs of the 21st century.
JONES: That's crazy. Don't say that. That's not true, is it?
(LAUGHTER)
SHAPIRO: Do you all disagree?
(CHEERING)
JONES: That makes my heart, like - that's really sweet. Thanks. That makes my heart happy.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COME AWAY WITH ME")
JONES: (Singing) Come away with me on a bus.
SHAPIRO: And you played it in a way that I, at least, have never heard it before.
JONES: Oh, yeah. It's kind of morphed.
SHAPIRO: Tell us about the morphing.
JONES: I don't think it's a conscious thing, and it's not on purpose. But it's just songs are kind of alive, I think. And the more you play them, the more they just morph. They're like people. We all morph, right?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COME AWAY WITH ME")
JONES: (Singing) And I want to walk with you on a cloudy day in fields where the yellow grass grows knee high. So won't you try to come?
SHAPIRO: Did you have to get over a sense of, oh, this is something that is so treasured and beloved in a specific way? Is there a fear of tinkering with, you know, something that kind of belongs to the world?
JONES: I've never really subscribed to that because I'm a very live musician. I love improvising. I love - the energy live is so different. And I was 22 when I recorded that song. So I've changed, and I want to try different things. I'm not doing it on purpose, though, just to mess with it. Like, I'm conscious of it in that way. But unless you go back and listen to the original recording - unless I do, which I don't often, I don't even realize that I'm doing it different, you know? I'm not doing it on purpose.
SHAPIRO: So this is the way it is now, it's just the way it happened to be today. And tomorrow, it might be a different way.
JONES: Yeah. I mean, I think in the same year it's more similar than it is every night to night, but...
SHAPIRO: Does having that kind of a massive hit so early in your career feel more liberating or constricting?
JONES: At this point, I'm so stoked. I'm so, like, lucky and proud and happy, and I still have a career. Look, I'm here, right?
SHAPIRO: Finally.
JONES: Look, you're still talking to me.
SHAPIRO: Finally, finally at the Tiny Desk.
JONES: You're actually talking to me still. So I feel so lucky. At the time, it was a little weighty, you know? It was a lot. But I think what I realized early on after the first album was very successful was that the music is what I love. If I just have fun playing music, then whatever happens is going to be what happens. I wasn't going to manufacture the music based on the success.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COME AWAY WITH ME")
JONES: (Singing) Come away with me.
(CHEERING)
JONES: Thank you so much.
(APPLAUSE)
SHAPIRO: Norah Jones, it's been such a pleasure talking to you. Thank you for coming to NPR headquarters and the Tiny Desk.
JONES: Thanks. Thanks for having me. It was a pleasure.
SHAPIRO: Her latest album is "Visions," and you can watch her entire Tiny Desk concert at nprmusic.org.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWEPT UP IN THE NIGHT")
JONES: (Singing) I was swept up in the night, someone's arms who held me tight. Can't explain the dance or dream. What I felt was quite extreme. Traveled to... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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