![Scarlett Johansson
ANYWHERE I LAY MY HEAD
Atco
Scarlett Johansson’s debut album “Anywhere I Lay My Head” (Atco) is a delight. How much of that excellence she is actually responsible for is beside the point. Yes, her voice is limited - think lower-register Sinead O’Connor without the banshee yelling and the nimble phrasing - but it gets the job done. And when there’s so much marvelous stuff going on around it, from the Tom Waits songs to the soundscapes lovingly assembled by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, does it really matter? The title track recasts the Waits classic as an Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song, complete with boozy horn sounds and engaging synthesized-drum fills. “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” is reborn as a Pet Shop Boys remix. And when David Bowie’s majestic backing vocals kick in on “Fannin’ Street,” the results are stunning. It’s a trick that Johansson and her collaborators pull off time and again on “Anywhere I Lay My Head” - even on “Song for Jo,” the album’s sole original, co-written by Johansson and Sitek - and one that future actresses-turned-singers should study. Sticking to what you do best generally works out just fine. (Grade: B)
[Also ran in Chicago Tribune]](http://30.media.tumblr.com/NLbrVHkDv9h5n8eoUP9mxAod_400.jpg)
Scarlett Johansson
ANYWHERE I LAY MY HEAD
Atco
Scarlett Johansson’s debut album “Anywhere I Lay My Head” (Atco) is a delight. How much of that excellence she is actually responsible for is beside the point. Yes, her voice is limited - think lower-register Sinead O’Connor without the banshee yelling and the nimble phrasing - but it gets the job done. And when there’s so much marvelous stuff going on around it, from the Tom Waits songs to the soundscapes lovingly assembled by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, does it really matter?
The title track recasts the Waits classic as an Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song, complete with boozy horn sounds and engaging synthesized-drum fills. “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” is reborn as a Pet Shop Boys remix. And when David Bowie’s majestic backing vocals kick in on “Fannin’ Street,” the results are stunning.
It’s a trick that Johansson and her collaborators pull off time and again on “Anywhere I Lay My Head” - even on “Song for Jo,” the album’s sole original, co-written by Johansson and Sitek - and one that future actresses-turned-singers should study. Sticking to what you do best generally works out just fine. (Grade: B)
[Also ran in Chicago Tribune]
