Scarlett Johansson

Anywhere I Lay My Head finds mega-star Scarlett Johansson interpreting 10 Tom Waits songs. Now, as strange as that sounds, it works very well. The star of Lost In Translation and The Nanny Diaries has already exhibited an on-screen versatility that's enthralled both indie film snobs and mainstream moviegoers alike. Adding to her talents, she's got a diverse voice that'll likely span a gamut of music fans as well. Her dreamy baritone injects a soft sensuality into Tom Waits' dark, intelligent lyrics. Her re-recording of these songs is more of a "Re-envisioning," and the original poignancy definitely doesn't get lost in translation, either. From the strange, weighty organs opener "Fawn" to the shaky bliss of "Falling Down," Scarlett nails the strange dejection that Waits captured oh so well. "Anywhere I Lay My Head" bears an especially ethereal quality, as it segues from the melodic crescendo of clean instrumentation to her subtle vocal delivery on the chorus.

The one original track, "Song for Jo," starts with a faintly strummed acoustic guitar, and Scarlett's voice barely exceeds a whisper. It's folky and forlorn in some ways, but Scarlett gets taps into something. On this original track, her voice ebbs and flows naturally and conjures strange summertime imagery. She tells a weird little tale and ultimately draws even more from Waits on her own song. It's definitely the album's standout. It's also a very promising vignette. The Waits covers themselves all possess various merits, and Scarlett delivers them with reverence. Neverthless, it'll be great to see her take the reigns on her own album. If anything's disappointing, it's that Scarlett doesn't bust out more originals. After the closing strains of "Who Are You," you can't help but want another trip with Scarlett to this "Ghost World."

—Rick Florino
05.29.08

As an actress, Scarlett Johansson often gives herself over to being an object of fantasy -- not necessarily in a purely carnal fashion, but something rather more complicated: wish fulfillment for her directors. Sofia Coppola turned Scarlett into a romanticized version of herself, Woody Allen was comfortable casting her as both a lethal sophisticated seductress and ditsy bombshell, while even Michael Bay turned her into some kind of empty cloned sex kitten. Given this history, perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that her debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, is an extension of this pattern, as Dave Sitek -- pivotal member of TV on the Radio, producer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Foals -- helps turn Scarlett into a 4AD diva, partially with the assistance of Ivo Watts, who helped sequence the album. And yet, it is a surprise that she gives herself over to Sitek so willingly that it's impossible to tell what parts of the album were driven by Johansson and what parts are wish fulfillments from Sitek, who seems to be bent on creating his own dream pop fantasy. Certainly, Anywhere I Lay My Head is not strictly a Tom Waits tribute, as the songs are rearranged so drastically they're only used as a vehicle for texture -- dense, crawling texture, occasionally recalling the junkyard percussion of the Waits of Swordfishtrombones ("Green Grass" retains that same clattering kalimba rhythms). By leaning so heavily on music Waits made after his 1983 avant makeover -- all but one of the ten Waits songs here date from after 1983, and the spooky music box revision of "I Wish I Was in New Orleans" brings it firmly within the Waits' junkyard -- Scarlett and Sitek only enhance the suspicion that this is a creation of an idealized '80s underground fantasia, an ideal soundtrack for a Sofia Coppola movie where it would sit alongside the Jesus & Mary Chain and Kate Bush. All this hazy '80s fantasy is in line with Sitek's TV on the Radio -- not as dark or majestic, but inescapably his work -- and it overwhelms Johansson's singing, not because she's a shrinking violet, but because Sitek's signature is so indelible. He has a gift for provocative, haunting arrangements, yet this gift does not match Johansson's voice. All soft, seductive curves as an actress, she's surprisingly deep and brittle as a singer, fighting instead of floating against Sitek's textures, tension that's as intriguing as it is fatiguing, as the music never settles into the warm, narcotic lullaby it so yearns to be. And so, Anywhere I Lay My Head doesn't quite work, but it can't quite be dismissed, either: unlike so many actor-turned-singer records, there's not a hint of vanity to this project and it's hard not to marvel at its ambition even as it fails. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi