Scarlett Johansson — Anywhere I Lay My Head

Anywhere I Lay My Head

Rhino

Phil Villeneuve (CHARTattack)

05/20/2008 11:45am

Johansson's musical debut is worth a listen for a few reasons.

For one, this is an album of Tom Waits songs, so it's interesting to hear her and TV On The Radio guitarist David Sitek's takes on the iconic grumbler-singer-songwriter's often-brilliant songs. Anywhere I Lay My Head is a pretty dark record dripping in reverb. Slow, lush, fuzzy and flowing, covers of "I Don't Want To Grow Up" and "Fannin' Street" have a distinct '80s new wave feel, while the rest of the album is mostly made up of layered synths, echoing beats and muddled instrumentals.

The second reason to listen is to hear the bodacious actress' voice. It's an unexpected Debbie Harry-meets-Sinead O'Connor holler and not the lower register, sexed-up smoky voice most people would imagine. Thirdly, David Bowie humbly sings back-up on a few tracks, adding to the record's "what the fuck?" feel.

That said, AILMH was meant to be a WTF kind of record. Johansson? Sitek? Bowie? Like any good actress' leap into singing this album is totally listenable and totally dismissible all at once.