Let's take a moment to set aside the months of
mockery and premature backlash leading up to the release of Scarlett
Johansson's first album—an 11-song collection dominated by Tom Waits
covers—and cast it in a different light. Imagine Dave Sitek of TV On The
Radio creating an avant-garde easy-listening tribute to Waits. Ambient
soundscapes build slowly, adding and losing elements like tinkling bells, tinny
drum machines, and twangy guitars. On those terms, the album has its
problems—tracks like "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" sound like late-'80s dance
music of the most disposable kind, and the sum effect is kind of
sleepy—but it still plays as an interesting experiment.
The biggest problem with Scarlett Johansson's
debut is that it features Scarlett Johansson's singing. She isn't a
traditionally talented vocalist, which in itself can be fine. (Waits wouldn't
exactly tear it up on American Idol either.) But she isn't much of an interpreter,
either; she brings the flat, throaty tones of the heavily drugged to songs that
beg for passion. With different material, her minimalism might work in her
favor. The single original, a smoky, Mazzy Star-recalling track called "Song
For Jo," swirls her limitations into the mix, suggesting that she might have
songs to sing someday. Just not Tom Waits' songs.