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Scarlett Johansson – Anywhere I Lay My Head
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Right, this cute young movie star announces she’s recording an album of Tom Waits covers. “Come again?” we all say, before dark phrases like “vanity project” start creeping out. So is Scarlett’s project a grand folly or the arrival of a major new talent?
Well, it’s an odd move – Waits is not unused to people re-inventing his songs, but with the exception of Rod Stewart plundering his songbook every time he runs dry, he’s never been covered with this alacrity, and certainly not by someone so glamorous (sorry, Rod). It’s not just odd, then – it’s brave.
And it’s a success. Johansson’s flying start is fuelled by the production and arrangement skills of David Sitek of US avant-rockers TV On The Radio. The sleevenotes name-check 4AD bands Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil, and Sitek surely brings their brand of dense, otherworldly indie-pop to the table. One track on the last TV On The Radio album credits Sitek with providing “magic”, and he repeats the trick for Miss Scarlett.
Together, they’ve found the lush gothic pop hidden deep in Waits’ oeuvre. Opener ‘Fawn’ replaces Waits’ wheezing buzz-saw trill with a brassy, organ-pumped anthem; it’s an instrumental, a strange way to start a solo album by a prominent new singer, but Johansson justifies it as a showcase for her fine cast of musicians. When we finally hear her sing on second track ‘Town With No Cheer’ it’s quite a shock. You can imagine the headlines: ‘Scarlett Johansson – not just a pretty face, a weirdly androgynous voice too’.
The texture of this gorgeous album is sticky and plush, with deep soundscapes woven around every track. Particular triumphs are ‘I Don’t Wanna Grow Up’ which replaces the toolshed clatter of the original with a tinny indie-dance beat, single ‘Falling Down’, with its glockenspiel chimes and conspicuous support from David Bowie, and the title track, with its Prince-like snares and rare show of character from Johansson.
You see, if Anywhere I Lay My Head stumbles at all it’s in the jarring blankness of the singer herself. Normally, this would be a major failing, but Sitek and crew have created such a beguiling backdrop that Johansson’s limitations become a complement to the rich music on offer. Consider her the muse, not the star.
Matthew Horton
