Norah Jones ‎– Pick Me Up Off The Floor

Even though it arrives two decades into her career, Norah Jones’ eighth album is her first born from poems. Her friend, the poet Emily Fiskio, inspired Jones to try poetry, and Jones inspired Fiskio to write songs. Eventually, the two combined forces, and several of their collaborations are included here. “It opened me up to a different avenue of writing,” Jones says. “Plus, when you read Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein to your kids every night, weird rhymes float around in your head.” Perhaps that’s why these songs, which trace a difficult period in Jones’ life, as well as the world, still feel somewhat hopeful. Or it could be the fact that they weren’t written to fit an album at all. Instead, Jones allowed herself to record spontaneously, uploading tracks to a playlist whenever they came together—another first. “I was collaborating with different people and just trying to make singles rather than forcing an album,” she says. “It was very freeing.”