Norah Jones is a peculiar artist in a world where musicians are more interested in appearing in “Us Magazine” than “Rolling Stone.” Her low-key persona belies the fact that her songs would sound great sung on a street corner or a smoky jazz club.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Jones’ latest release is a blend of the exotic vocal melodies, sparse instrumentation and unpolished production that have become her trademark since the almost surreal success of her 2002 album “Come Away with Me.”

While “Not Too Late” is certainly nothing ground-breaking, it’s a special record that sounds both old and new – sometimes at once. Songs like “Wish I Could” and “Thinking About You” wouldn’t be out of place playing on a Victrola, and the barrelhouse piano on “Sinkin’ Soon” compliments Jones’ airy voice.

Then there are the more modern sounding tracks, like the slow, booming acoustic on “Wake Me Up,” the sassy strut of “Little Room” and the disturbingly moving “Rosie’s Lullaby.”

Jones’ voice occasionally suffers from the rough anti-production quality of the recording. Listeners will take notice of the off-key singing of “Wish I Could”; however, the beauty of Jones’ music is that it can be both beautiful and imperfect at the same time.

“Not Too Late” is good enough to stand up with Jones’ previous recordings, even if it does boast one of the uglier album covers in recent memory.