Political Slant In New Norah Jones CD
It's been quite a ride for singer-songwriter Norah Jones since her 2002 debut album "Come Away With Me" brought her several Grammys. She's won eight in all.
Her third CD, "Not Too Late," hit No. 1 on the Billboard album chart as soon as it was released recently.
Jones' first two albums have sold more than 30 million copies, making her the highest selling female artist this decade.
Unlike the first two, Jones either wrote or co-wrote all the songs on "Not Too Late."
"I finally started writing, and I had a period in the past few years where I was writing a lot," she explained to co-anchor Julie Chen on The Early Show Thursday. "It felt really good to write, and it felt really good to record the songs and have them work."
Unlike her first two efforts, "Not Too Late" has political undertones, not just romantic ballads.
Asked about that, Jones said flatly: "If anybody is aware of what's going on in the world in the past few years, there's a lot of things to think about other than just romance and love."
Jones is also preparing to make her big screen debut in "My Blueberry Nights," alongside the likes of Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Rachel Weisz.
To see photos from Jones' career, click here.
"It's a Kar Wai Wong film," she noted. "He's an amazing director."
How did she get the part?
"I have no idea," Jones confessed. "He asked me to do the film and I just kinda said 'OK,' and that was it. And, for some reason, I had blind faith in the reason he asked me, and he had blind faith, even though I'd never done any acting.
"And then," she said with a chuckle, "he cast the rest of the movie and I was like, 'Oh, God, what did I get myself into?' "
Jones said making the movie was "a lot of fun," but her primary focus remains making music.
As for how some tracks on her new CD will be taken, Jones said it's up to listeners: "I think it's important for people to have their own interpretations of songs. Somebody might think it's about one thing, and somebody else might think it's about another thing. And if somebody connects to it in a way, and that's not what it's about, I don't want to ruin that for anybody."
