Music
Scarlett Johansson: 'Anywhere I Lay My Head'
Released on Monday, May 19 2008
Published Thursday, May 22 2008, 18:50 BST | By Alex Fletcher | 4 comments
On paper it seems incredibly foolhardy: Johansson, a woman best known for dancing around in her knickers and having a fling with Bill Murray in Lost in Translation, tackling the back catalogue of someone as critically lauded as Waits? What? The project becomes even more baffling when you're confronted with her flat, timid, utterly unremarkable singing voice. Waits always sounds like he's washed down a plateful of broken glass with a bottle of export-strength vodka: how will she keep up?
It's incredibly fortunate, therefore, that Sca.Jo thought to recruit producer David Sitek. Though he was ditched by Oxford maths-rockers Foals for apparently making them sound like they were playing in the Grand Canyon, the TV On The Radio guitarist offers a real musical masterclass on Anywhere I Lay My Head. Rather than thrusting Johansson to the forefront, getting her to pout her way through these tunes, he revels in her fragility and nervousness, wrapping her vocals in epic, spiralling soundscapes and dreamy electro-pop goodness.
The most common mistake for a covers album is to be too honourable to the originals. While Johansson is clearly a devoted follower of Waits - you only have to read her lengthy liner notes to realise that - Sitek ensures that this album is more than a mere karaoke tribute. Instead, it re-explores Waits' canon from the perspective of a 23-year-old starlet from New York - with impressive results.
On 'Falling Down', which Sitek says he wanted to sound like a duet between Kermit the Frog and David Bowie, Johansson is surrounded by twinkling bells, a banjo and yes, David Bowie. The result? She sounds every bit the accomplished indie rocker. Likewise, the title track captures all the drama of Waits not through Johansson's vocals, but via a sparse mixture of pump organs, drum machines and brooding brass. Other highlights include 'I Wish I Was In New Orleans', where Johansson sounds like she's been locked in a children's music box, and 'I Don't Wanna Grow Up', which is turned into a sparkling disco gem.
This album may be a success more because of its guest stars and collaborators - Sitek, Bowie, Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs - than any innate musical ability from Johansson, but, with results as good as these, it's not unreasonable to turn a blind eye. Whether she has a future in pop remains to be seen, but 'Song For Jo', the one original track on the album, fits snugly enough among Waits's songs to suggest Johansson wouldn't embarrass herself if she had a second crack at this music malarkey some time in the future.
More: Scarlett Johansson, Music
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Amazing!!! The album is amazing... I like it very much... Good job Scarlett!!
I can't say I enjoy listening to Waits ever but Sitek has produced something very special here. I like to think of it as his album and with vocals by Johansson and accordingly I applaud Sitek for his work. He's shown that the reworking of old songs can be done brilliantly. Johansson is getting stick for this project of hers and much of the criticism dished out doesn't quite stick. Each track works and there is so much creativity going on musically. I was shocked to be impressed but I'm glad I gave it a bash.
A very good album. I enjoy it very much!
Scarlett obviously didn't go into this with a greedy desire to conquer the music world, as well as the acting world. Tom Waits, despite his cult following, has never had much commercial appeal - and he has no time for it either, so I doubt it bothers him - so Scarlett clearly new that this wasn't going to sell big. It was an admirally risky move, and Digi Spy seems to be one of the few sites that has acknowledged its success. Scarlett's vocals, conventionally speaking, are terrible - in "Who Are You," (one of Waits' best vocal performances) she climbs a very high fence and falls a long way off. Basically, she misses a number of notes. But convention aside, her vocals are excellent. Her voice is husky, sensual and seductive, and the producer has showcased it brilliantly by engulfing it in a ambient soundscape of eclectic musical arrangements. Overall, this is a really interesting take on Waits. I wouldn't have thought this could be done, but Scarlett is clearly quite the visionary. After the dodgy intro "Fawn," Scarlett fits perfectly into "Town With No Cheer," which is a great example of the wonderfully excessive production. "TWNC" takes the listener through a hot desert of sound. In "I Wish I Was In New Orleans," Scarlett sounds like she's just popped her head out of a music box, while she croons beautifully over a heavy-hitting beat in "No One Knows I'm Gone." What I love so much about this is the fatc that she has taken some of Waits' more arid and forgettable pieces (with the exceptions of "Falling Down," "Green Grass" and "Who Are You This Time," - some of Waits' absolute best) and made them into totally memorable songs. And it's also fascinating because the style completely clashes with Waits' dark lyrics. Yet, it works! There are lowpoints - she completely tears "Who Are You" to pieces (and Bowie's presence as the supposed backing vocalist is a little too heavy) and in "Green Grass," the production is a little overdone and Scarlett can barely be heard. According to rumours, Scarlett is planning on releasing an album comprised of songs written by her, which, judging by the nostalgic "Song for Jo," should be great!