When the autumn turns wintry, I seem to want nothing more than a creeping bass line and a crackly voice. Thus, my musical tastes of late have veered into Old Man Territory. I’m talking Bruce and Bob, Johnny and Tom, growling songs about women, losing, and losing women. In that order. Female blues singers are also acceptable - Koko Taylor (’Queen of the Blues’, apparently) has the pre-requisite inbuilt strep throat that means when she admonishes someone (usually an errant male) who has done her wrong, one’s gotta step back and recognise. (On a side note - how does one develop this tone? Are there numerous small children left out in the rain every winter in Georgia? I digress….).

As a result of my inbuilt musical atavism, it was with a mixture of curiosity and disdain that I received the news of Scarlett Johansson’s latest venture: she’s recorded an album of Tom Waits covers, titled, imaginatively- ‘Scarlet sings Tom Waits’. Johansson is actually quite an adept chanteuse, and the record was produced by Dave Sitek, so it all seems to bode quite well. However, she’s being a little lazy. Her previous recordings all play up her cleverly (and cynically?) cultivated image of her being the next Marilyn Monroe, yada yada yada. Her tone is breathy, and her delivery, while, as I already mentioned, is adept, one can’t help but feel that there’s an exec up there somewhere, encouragingly saying ‘Yeah, great Scar, but could you make it huskier?’

Though I know I said in the opening paragraph that the blues seem to need some inbuilt phlegm (physical, not metaphorical), that isn’t to say a clear delivery can’t blow one away. Case in point:

VS

Perhaps on ‘Scarlett Sings…’ the young miss’ll be given more of a free reign, and possibly be allowed clear her throat (or cut down to 4 packs of John Major a day), though from the promo pictures, it’s not looking too good- suffice to say that they involve Scarlett looking seductive whilst wearing a pinstripe trilby.

ADDENDUM: Look how cross Pitchfork are about the whole thing. They’re being quite childish, and, it would appear, overly snotty. Maybe they’re jealous of Fox News for getting the ScarJo scoop first.

Ailbhe Malone is 21 years old. She continually gets Malcolm McClaren and Steve McClaren mixed up.
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