When Scarlett Johansson released the news that she would be recording an album of Tom Waits covers, it was met with a mix of admiration and criticism. To cover the underground icon’s work (without butchering it) is definitely an ambitious undertaking. Waits has made a career of going against the grain with a take-it-or-leave-it voice and stripped-down barroom compositions that draw on jazz, Americana, and the avante-garde while maintaining an unmatchable emotional charge and honesty that have earned him a place as one of the great American songwriters. Johansson is a talented and ambitious actress but, as Anywhere I Lay My Head illustrates, is less effective as a vocalist, especially in the context of Waits’ work.
With Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio) manning the knobs, Nick Zinner (the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) contributing guitar, and David Bowie doing the occasional backing vocals, Anywhere I Lay My Head definitely has an impressive team. It’s no surprise, then, that Scarlett herself would be the weak link. With a low tenor/baritone range (not so far from Waits’ register), Johansson’s voice is certainly unique and has a lot of creative potential but, as it stands, lacks either the training or emotional charge that makes a good singer—particularly one that can pull off Waits’ compositions.
The album definitely has its moments of brilliance, though they’re mainly all Sitek’s contributions. At certain points, the production really brings something new to Tom Waits’ stripped-down pieces, taking them out of the basement and the bar and putting them through the filter of a dream or hallucinogenic trip. “Fawn” opens the album with a lovely electric organ evoking pastoral imagery of the Deep South. Halfway through the song, baritone sax and horns explode into the texture, mixing free jazz with Civil War Americana harmonies. “Town With No Cheer” begins with a delicate mix of reversed horns, mallets, and woodwinds that gives way to a brooding organ ostinato.
Johansson’s contribution to the album is considerably less effective. Though you’ve got to admire her ambition in undertaking this as her breakout into the music world, she has a long way to go as a vocalist and performer. Her performances lack emotional content and often come across as monotone and uninspired. When she does break out of her shell on the dreamy sound collage of “Green Grass” and on “I Wish I Was In New Orleans,” the result is beautiful. The latter song, built around mallets and Scarlett’s voice, creates a wonderful and disturbing picture of early '20s New Orleans—grainy, haunting, and evocative. Her voice, for the first time on the album, sounds feminine and carries an emotional charge that really takes the listener somewhere. On the album’s sole original composition, “Song For Jo,” Scarlett’s voice is barely a whisper over a tranquil, but dark bed guitar and ambient sound. The effect is a beautiful, textured sound that really stands out from the preceding tracks.
On the other tracks, Johansson’s baritone detracts from Sitek’s work, even when buried in reverb and turned down so far in the mix that the lyrics become inaudible (which is most of the time). In the process, the music loses the raw element that makes Waits’ compositions so unique in the first place—the raw power of his gravelly voice, the detuned pianos, the angular electric guitar screeches, and the overall sense of honesty that his songs convey. “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” and “Anywhere I Lay My Head” come across as overproduced tracks overly saturated with sweet strings and synth. “Falling Down,” the album’s single, is a brilliantly produced collage of banjo, horns, and organ, but Johansson’s robotic delivery is merely passable, holding back what has the potential to be an amazing composition.
Anywhere I Lay My Head is definitely worth a listen. The overall sound is unique and, during its best moments, offers refreshing takes on Waits’ work that suck the listener into Sitek’s often brilliant production and Johansson’s unusual voice. The album’s low points and lack of overall emotional content, however, keep the work from living up to the potential of the album’s superstar team and leave the listener aching for the raw power of the original compositions.
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