Anywhere I Lay My Head
Actress Scarlett Johansson’s solo musical debut is a lovely collection of hazy, ephemeral, narco-pop, a distant cousin to early 4AD artists (Lush, Pale Saints, Lisa Germano) and early-‘70s folk rock (Tim Buckley, Big Star). Produced by TV On the Radio’s Dave Sitek, Johansson pours her longtime affection for Tom Waits into covering a slew of his songs, which is gutsy in itself; not that she’s playing the breathy sex kitten taking on the wizened and whiskered troubadour — she’s got a fairly gutsy, bluesy, crooner style, in fact — but any newcomer taking on such a revered figure has got to have some trepidation. With the songs thoroughly filtered into new creations, the only misstep here is that producer Sitek laid on the atmospherics a bit too thick; when Johansson’s not lost in the fog, her voice is inarguably seductive and powerful. Strip away a layer of keyboard haze on the title track, on “Falling Down” or “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up,” and you’ll find a vocal as strong as any indie chanteuse. Her sharp edges on tracks like “Town With No Cheer” and “Green Grass” pay tribute to her muse — with a little sugar added.
Actress Scarlett Johansson unveils her anti-vanity vanity project, a record of Tom Waits covers (with one original) that belongs as much to its producer, TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, as it does to the Lost in Translation star. If this isn't weird enough already, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner and David Bowie are among the guests.
Let's take a moment to set aside the months of mockery and premature backlash leading up to the release of Scarlett Johansson's first album—an 11-song collection dominated by Tom Waits covers—and cast it in a different light. Imagine Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio creating an avant-garde easy-listening tribute to…
<p>It's not the first Tom Waits covers album, but it may be the most intriguing, writes <strong>Barney Hoskyns</strong></p>