Sophia Michaels
Norah Jones will release her seventh studio album, Pick Me Up Off the Floor, on May 8th via Blue Note Records. She previewed the record with lead single “I’m Alive,” a collaboration with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy.
The laid-back track, which Tweedy co-wrote and produced, features the Wilco leader on acoustic guitar, electric guitar and bass. His son and frequent collaborator Spencer Tweedy plays brushed drums. “Just sit and wait, don’t move — just hesitate/You can hope and pray; you can moan; maybe things will change,” Jones croons over her warm, languid piano. “You feel your soul get hollowed out/While the world implodes, you just live without.”
The record — which also includes the Tweedy-assisted “Heaven Above” — marks Jones’ second collaboration with the Wilco frontman, who co-wrote and produced two tracks on her 2019 LP, Begin Again. “Norah’s been a great friend for a long time and she’s one of the most effortless musicians I’ve ever played with,” Tweedy tells Rolling Stone.
In a statement, Jones detailed the inspiration and creative process behind the album, which sprung from a productive session with her regular drummer Brian Blade.
“Living in this country — this world — the last few years, I think there’s an underlying sense of, ‘Lift me up. Let’s get up out of this mess and try to figure some things out,’” she said. “If there’s a darkness to this album, it’s not meant to be an impending sense of doom, if feels more like a human longing for connection. Some of the songs that are personal also apply to the larger issues we’re all facing. And some of the songs that are about very specific larger things also feel quite personal.”
She added, “I don’t know if I was just in a zone or if this process turned it on, but I’ve felt more creative in the last year than I ever have.”
The project also features contributions from bassists Christopher Thomas, John Patitucci, Jesse Murphy, and Josh Lattanzi; drummers Nate Smith, Dan Rieser, and Josh Adams; keyboardist Pete Remm, pedal steel guitarist Dan Iead, violinist Mazz Swift, violist Ayane Kozasa, cellist Paul Wiancko, percussionist Mauro Refosco, background vocalists Ruby Amanfu and Sam Ashworth, trumpeter Dave Guy and tenor saxophonist Leon Michels.
Pick Me Up Off the Floor is available for pre-order on vinyl, CD and download. Jones will promote the LP on a recently announced joint U.S. tour with Mavis Staples
Norah Jones – Pick Me Up Off the Floor Track List
1. “How I Weep”
2. “Flame Twin”
3. “Hurts To Be Alone”
4. “Heartbroken, Day After”
5. “Say No More”
6. “This Life”
7. “To Live”
8. “I’m Alive”
9. “Were You Watching?”
10. “Stumble On My Way”
11. “Heaven Above”
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