Is it too late?

Soft-spoken singer, songwriter, and pianist Norah Jones will be releasing her latest album, "Not Too Late," on Blue Note Records on January 29th. Known for her sweep of the 2003 Grammys but having somewhat faded since, Jones played 12 tracks from the 13-track release on BBC's Radio 2 this past Saturday. She addressed the audience with a fair bit of charisma and gave them a taste of something new.

The Independent reports:

For the soulful new single "Thinking About You", Jones switched to a Fender Rhodes electric piano and proved just as entrancing and bewitching, delivering the lyrics with just the right amount of yearning.

As for the album, it's wholly made up of her original compositions and looks to contain a few surprises from an artist who we can all-too-easily pigeonhole as predictable "after-dinner music."

Our friends at The Independent inform us that, in addition to the country influence carried over from her last project, 2004's "Feels Like Home,"

the vocalist and her partner Lee Alexander have broadened the palette further still, as demonstrated by the dreamy, drifting, lap steel sonics he added to "Not My Friend" and the upright bass loops on "Broken". ... Media attention will no doubt focus on "My Dear Country", written two years ago, and its recurring motif of "Nothing is as scary as election day" and lines such as "Who knows, maybe he's not deranged". It's nice to see Jones moving into protest-singer territory and picking up the Bush-bating baton from Neil Young and Pearl Jam.

Will these evolutions be enough to stir up some attention for Jones, or is she fine where she is, down-to-earth and true to her bluesy, mellow self? It's not too late to speculate.