As previously reported, Scarlett Johansson’s disc of Tom Waits covers is set for release on May 20. What’s gone unreported until now is that, if we can assume/hope the recently released “Falling Down” featuring David Bowie is a representative sampling of the rest of the music, Anywhere I Lay My Head might be a solid -- if conceptually bizarre -- album. Mixing Dave Sitek’s production layers with Wait’s words and Johansson’s voice doesn’t seem so preposterous after all, but does seem to further validate my hopes for Lindsay Lohan’s song-for-song covers album of Beefheart’s Safe as Milk.
Go here to listen to Scarlett Johansson’s cover of “Falling Down.”
Five additional tracks can be listened to at the new web site for Scarlett's album.
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Scarlett Johansson »
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Waits is such an iconoclastic performer that we often forget what a frickin' great songwriter he is. To me, one of the hallmarks of a great song is how adaptable it is. Waits's songs have been covered by everyone, sometimes well, sometimes poorly, and as long as Johansson does something interesting with them, I'm sure the album will transcend her celebrity status. This track is alright...it's more about Sitek than Johansson. I guess maybe that's a good thing?