The “previous manner” labored. Come Away With Me is tender and low-lit, a cocktail of tuneful mid-tempo blues balladry and country-soul that soars with the straightforward, weightless dedication of a gull. For each assured cowl tune, like Jones’ hip-swinging model of Hank Williams’ “Chilly Chilly Coronary heart” or her late-night, besotted tackle Hoagy Charmichael’s “The Nearness of You,” she points a slight nudge in one other, surprising route. “Feelin’ the Similar Means” ambles together with a buoyant bluegrass gait, whereas an accordion sneaks in behind her on the dreamy “Painter Track.” “Lonestar,” probably the most overtly Texan tune on the file, provides a soupçon of slide guitar, which strikes round her luminous, multi-tracked voice like a dance companion. Later, on the beautiful “The Lengthy Day Is Over,” a downy-soft brushed snare, piano, and low-slung guitar performed by the good Invoice Frisell information Jones’ zigzagging vocals. Her voice swirls into maze-like melodies, rambling from a low whisper to a throaty name. And “Don’t Know Why,” Jones’ hottest tune, captures the impulsivity she sought; the model included on the album makes use of her first vocal take. It arcs and strikes with calming readability, like an particularly stunning dawn filtering by way of the timber.
Come Away With Me isn’t all unfussy straightforward listening. “I’ve Obtained to See You Once more,” written by Harris, has lyrics that counsel an unhealthy attachment to an erotic dancer: “Strains in your face don’t hassle me/Down in my chair once you dance over me,” Jones murmurs over a Fiona Apple-esque combination of leisurely piano and a keening, unsettling violin. “I might virtually go there/Simply to look at you be seen.” She leaned additional into sensuality on the title observe, dashed off in “10 or quarter-hour” on an acoustic guitar she’d despatched for from again house in Texas. Its opening verses sound as if she’s whispering to you from beneath the sheets: “Come away with me within the evening/Come away with me and I’ll write you a tune,” she presents. With its gently rising refrain, the tune stays among the best showcases for the earthy luxurious of Jones’ voice.
Upon the album’s launch in February 2002, Blue Word marketed Come Away With Me with a blitz of press. They shipped hundreds of copies to be bought at espresso outlets, spas, and vineyards, aiming instantly on the over-21 crowd. “Time, Newsweek, getting it performed in Starbucks—folks want to listen to a few file,” Blue Word advertising director Zach Hochkeppel famous on the time. “They could not purchase a whole lot of albums, however once they do, they turn out to be a vastly devoted fanbase…. It was turbo phrase of mouth.” Evaluations have been constructive, with a number of critics drawing comparisons to Diana Krall and Rickie Lee Jones, artists who equally balanced jazzy inspirations with soul, Americana, and pop. The album debuted at No. 139 however solely climbed from there: Jones’ music carried out effectively on small-town radio, showing on jazz and faculty stations and NPR. It helped considerably that she arrived within the wake of one other piano prodigy, Alicia Keys, whose debut had shifted many tens of millions of models only a 12 months earlier (and who would current Jones together with her Greatest New Artist trophy on the Grammys). However Jones’ smoky, delicate rock method took gradual, virtually uncontrollable maintain over listeners. By August, the album had gone platinum.
