It's only been about three weeks since we posted six songs from Scarlett's Tom Waits covers compilation, Anywhere I Lay My Head, but now that the entire album is available as a full stream, we can't resist falling under Scarlett's starlet sway once again.
Combine Esquire's "sexiest woman alive," the much-loved music of Tom Waits and producer Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio fame with guests like David Bowie and members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Celebration, and you have pretty much the perfect recipe for a much-anticipated release.
As of early Tuesday morning, the entire album – all 11 songs – is available for free listening courtesy of imeem, which has an exclusive on the album in advance of its May 20 release. It's embedded below for your free listening pleasure.
Some of these songs were spotted briefly on imeem last month, and Warner Music Group owns Atco/Rhino Records, which will release the album, so this was a logical development. Warner and imeem have a "strategic partnership" for handling such promotions, among other things. However it happened, we're still sort of impressed that a major label decided to let imeem stream every song on this record for a week before its release.
Back to the music. The more I listen to this album, the more I'm reminded of the Cocteau Twins (when I'm not being reminded of Scarlett Johannson, that is), and that has me feeling really nostalgic. It's not an emotion I admire. (I can't listen to much early Yo La Tengo either, for the same reason.)
I know people have been giving Johansson a hard time about her voice onsome of these songs, and I can't get behind every track on the album("Fannin Street," for instance, is a bit of a dirge). But if that goodold Cocteaus sound still has access to a secret, backstage area of your heart, some of these songs will get to you, as they did to me:
video no longer available
Here's the tracklisting correlated with the Tom Waits album each song came from (with one exception):
1. "Fawn" (from the Tom Waits' album Alice)
2. "Town with No Cheer" (from Swordfishtrombones)
3. "Falling Down" (from Big Time) [Listening Post favorite]
4. "Anywhere I Lay My Head" (Rain Dogs)
5. "Fannin Street" (Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards)
6. "Song for Jo" (Scarlett Johansson original)
7. "Green Grass" (Real Gone)
8. "I Wish I Was in New Orleans" (Small Change)
9. "I Don't Want to Grow Up" (Bone Machine)
10. "No One Knows I'm Gone" (Alice)
11. "Who Are You?" (Bone Machine)
Photo: Atco Records
