By
BlackBook
April 21, 2008
Scarlett Johansson
Anywhere I Lay My Head (ATCO)
We know what you are thinking: Don Johnson, Heartbeat. But you are wrong, oh, so wrong. Scarlett Johansson’s first album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, is one of the happiest surprises in years. On this inspired collection of Tom Waits covers, Johansson’s famously oak-smoked voice is a natural cousin of the Roches, John Cale, and Sinead O’Connor. David Bowie, who sings backup on two tracks—“Falling Down” and “Fannin Street”—adds splashes of cream to this perfect cup of hot, dark New Orleans coffee. —Alison Powell
A certain Portis-topped trio from Bristol is re-emerging with their first proper album since 1997’s Dummy. It’s called Third (a presumed tribute to the album’s place in their discography). The album’s first single “Machine Gun,” debuted yesterday on DJ Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show and is now available for download and purchase on the band’s 
