So I decided to write something up about this new album I recently downloaded after hearing about it from people at kaioo.
I've been a huge Waits fan ever since I listened to Frank's Wild Years for the first time. His exotic grumpiness, his vocals, lax and stern at the same time have fascinated me from the beginning. The music is alsways a bit chaotic, most of the time the instruments provide only a thin layer, every one is just covering its own spot, its own frequency, while Waits' voice paints the songs in melancholy and wisdom. For me, Waits is like a father I never had, he feels like someone able to teach you about the miserable aspects of life, about pubs, prostitutes and alcohol. And music.
I've never really heard much about Johansson before; I knew she was some kind of Hollywood celebrity, but I never really was into Hollywood nor celebrities. Only after investigating a bit I realized I had seen a movie starring her: Lost in Translation. I didn't really like the flick though, it felt mediocre.
So, a mediocre (by my standards) actress starts singing Waits songs? This could either be a complete catastrophy or really interesting. Anyways I had to give the album a try, so I went out to get it. But I was afraid to touch it for another two days.
I had expected a bubblegum pop album. Or a really really good album. Or something entirely mediocre and trivial. It was neither.
The album still feels entirely strange to me. I can't really open my mind. Do I like it? I don't know. I don't hate it. But I expected something different and hence I'm completely disoriented. I must say that I can see Lost in Translation in this album. But, actually, the good parts of it. The waiting, the to-no-avail-ity, a lot of its melancholy. It starts completey soundtrack-esque, with an instrumental intro. The first bits of her voice in Town with No Cheer, are preceded by caribbean-sounding steel drums - and manage to surprise you. I expected her to sing better. After all, she had all the money of the world to let all sorts of machines sing instead of her. But, as someone posted in her shoutbox at last.fm - They didn't even try to pretend she can sing. They just let her go away with slight mistakes in pitch and a pretty monotonous voice. A voice not without charisma, but also with a lack of talent. She'll have to make up on it with character and innovations in future releases. I'll let it slip for this one, but I won't for the next.
All songs are covers, except for #6, Song for Jo, my favorite. This tune and Green Grass, #7, are the greatest songs on this album.
The atmosphere is very post-y, very melancholic. In contrast to Waits' instrumentation, the album feels a bit over-produced, too much reverb, to many stray notes wandering in a sound scape that feels very impressionistic overall - whereas Waits feels more like an expressionist. Instead of the contured, sharp tone of Waits, Johansson and Sitek deliver blurred and fuzzy sounds, sometimes even drone like. Her voice feels like Karaoke on some tracks, especially on I don't wanna grow up, a ... Disco tune! She appears to be a girl next door, taking huge sips from the 90's trash cocktail, while casually mentioning that she'll "drink you under the table" in I Wish I was in New Orleans, the only of Waits' earlier tracks on here. Unfortunately, she (or someone else) decided to pick mostly Waits' later works, which I'm not that familiar with.
Overall, this album feels strange and new. It's like soundtrack meets Waits meets that cute lost little girl in Japan, that's actually Danish, but an American actress. I tagged it drone-pop and post-waits since that's what it feels like for me.
I think I like it.
It would be hilarious if Johansson started a nice alternative/experimental music career frome here. But somehow I think she won't.
