Actress/singer (?)Scarlett Johansson’s debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, doesn’t officially hit shelves until May 20, but thanks to the wonders of the internet, you can hear it all now.

While there are places where you can (ahem, illegally) download the whole album, for a legal preview check the official site featuring clips of all eleven of the album’s tracks.

Buy at AllPosters.com

Or don’t bother.

On film, Johansson’s smoky rasp is typically on the border between being seductive and asthmatic. Unfortunately, as a singing voice, it’s less smoky jazz club and more Velvet Underground featuring Nico. Of course, that’s fine if you’re one of those people who pretends to admire Nico’s gruff monotone, but you’re only fooling yourself.

If you don’t already know the details on this project, it’s basically Johansson releasing an album of musician/actor Tom Waits songs. (She did co-author one track, “Song for Jo”.)

Yeah, we’re not sure who wants to hear this either. Maybe the indie-rock dorks who are stoked about Natalie Portman hooking up with obnoxious neo-folkie Devendra Banhart? Who knows.

Buy at AllPosters.com

And, we’re not usually quick to defend crumby pop-stars, but seriously, even Ashlee Simpson co-writes some of her own songs on her new album Bittersweet World. Her contributions are likely minimal compared to those of her songwriting team, and yes, those songs suck a lot of the time, but at least it’s an illusion of effort.
An album of cover songs is a cop-out. A sure-fire way to fail, but in a noble fashion.

If you’re going to do cover songs, it’s cool to pick a solid artist like Waits, but there’s nothing remotely fun or likable about this dirge of an album—it’s respectable, but scarcely enjoyable.

Tom Waits is a well-respected artist relegated to the fringe, and albums by actors are essentially novelty items to start with (watch as William Shatner sings “Rocket Man”)—so combining an actor with the overly novel idea of a cover song album is either brilliant or ridiculously alienating.

Guess we’ll find out when the album hits the charts (or doesn’t) next month.

Tell Us What You Think…

Who is a better singer: Scarlett or Ashlee? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 9:57 am and is filed under Indie Bands, Free Music, Movie Soundtrack. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.