New Jamz! Johansson & Bowie Polarize Everyone!

One of Tom Waits' greatest strengths as an artist is in his versatility of voice, and right up front, I'll concede that Scarlett Johansson is no great vocal storyteller. Hot as all hell in a Louis Vuitton ad, sure, but in a year that's already heard M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel's adorable She and Him, is there really room for a second Hollywood it girl to nail her sound as a singer? Which brings us back to the issue at hand: voice. All of forty seconds into Anywhere I Lay My Head, the actor's debut album of Waits covers, Johansson reveals herself as drowned and distant: part Mazzy Star/Sinead O' Connor, part pretty girl at the bar who could give a fuck whether or not you can really hear her.

Regular readers of this site will know that I'm more forgiving of odd covers that most. (Though I'll never resign my proclamation that Taco's "Puttin' on the Ritz" eats a dick.) When When TV on the Radio's David Sitek, producer of the album, describes the project's aesthetic as "Tinkerbell on cough syrup" in Anywhere's liner notes, he's nailed it: This is fractured, paranoid music. And beauty is certainly not exclusive of such adjectives.

I like this a lot. Or as my roommate Henry put it, "Well, it's still plenty creepy!" Anywhere I Lay My Head is out now on Atco/Rhino.

Scarlett Johansson Feat. David Bowie "Falling Down" (LINK INACTIVE)

Scarlett Johansson "Anywhere I Lay My Head" (LINK INACTIVE)

UPDATED: Heyyy... so! We got our very first cease and desist order! Only remixes, mashups, and press kit .mp3s from now on, kiddies! (Gulp.)