Anywhere I Lay My Head

Anywhere I Lay My Head
File:Scar jo anywhere album cover.jpg
Studio album by Scarlett Johansson
Released	May 16, 2008 (2008-05-16)
Recorded	2007; Dockside Studios (Maurice, Louisiana)
Genre	Indie folk, alternative rock, dream pop
Length	44:23
Label	Atco
Producer	David Andrew Sitek
Scarlett Johansson chronology
Anywhere I Lay My Head (2008) Break Up (2009)Break Up2009
Singles from Anywhere I Lay My Head
"Falling Down" Released: March 18, 2008 "Anywhere I Lay My Head" Released: May 27, 2008

Anywhere I Lay My Head is the debut studio album by American actress Scarlett Johansson, released on May 16, 2008 by Atco Records. Johansson recorded the album over five weeks in spring 2007 at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana. It was produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio and includes collaborations with David Bowie and members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Celebration.

Anywhere I Lay My Head contains four songs written by Tom Waits, six songs written by Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan, and one original composition, "Song for Jo". Upon release, the album received mixed reviews from critics, and saw moderate commercial success. "Falling Down" was released as the album's lead single.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	58/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Drowned in Sound	6/10
Entertainment Weekly	C
The Guardian
NME	8/10
The Observer
Pitchfork Media	5.5/10
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Spin	5/10

Anywhere I Lay My Head received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 58, based on 35 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Priya Elan of the NME called the album "brilliant" and wrote that "just like Lou Reed with Nico and Serge Gainsbourg with Brigitte Bardot, Sitek has effortlessly translated Johansson's magnetism on to record", while comparing her "deep" voice to "latter-day Ronnie Spector's street-savvy tone". The Observer's Barney Hoskyns commented that Johansson's "blankly androgynous alto timbre is nothing special, but that barely matters", praising the album as "a bravely eccentric selection and a captivating homage to a singular writer". The Guardian's Dorian Lynskey characterized Johansson's voice as "a supple, languid instrument offering hints of Nico, Kim Deal and Martina Topley-Bird" and stated, "You might wish there was more from Waits' 70s barfly period [...] but it's a measure of this album's surprising allure that you're left wanting more."

Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine found Johansson to be "surprisingly deep and brittle as a singer", concluding that the album "doesn't quite work, but it can't quite be dismissed, either: unlike so many actor-turned-singer records, there's not a hint of vanity to this project and it's hard not to marvel at its ambition even as it fails." Matt Fink of Paste magazine stated that Johansson's "willingness to allow the arrangements to transform Waits' creaky intimacy into wide-eyed atmosphere ultimately results in the rare covers album that actually has its own identity." In another review for Paste, however, Amanda Petrusich felt that Johansson's singing "feels strangely sluggish and plodding", writing, "These songs were already so impeccably performed that Johansson didn't have very many new places to take them, and although her effort and nerve are commendable, 'not as terrible as you thought it would be' just isn't the same thing as good."

The Village Voice's Stacey Anderson remarked that Johansson is "a monotonous singer, with a garrulous flat alto that swoops uneasily to sub-Nico baritone [...] But thankfully, Sitek recognizes her limitations and wisely pairs her with Waits's most frankly plaintive lyrics until the emotion drips through". Mikael Wood of Spin magazine wrote, "Beyond the fact that her voice is deep enough for her to front Crash Test Dummies, there's nothing particularly compelling about Scarlett Johansson's singing", adding that "her vocals are buried deep beneath [...] Dave Sitek's mountain of reverbed space-gospel noise." Wood nevertheless noted the album is "[n]ot your typical Hollywood vanity project". Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly opined, "In burying Johansson's vocals so deeply in the druggy ambiance, producer David Andrew Sitek [...] means well but ends up obscuring Waits' great tunes." Rolling Stone's Will Hermes critiqued that "Johansson's voice is unremarkable and her pitch sometimes unsteady", dubbing her "a faintly goth Marilyn Monroe lost in a sonic fog". Hermes complimented the tracks "I Wish I Was in New Orleans", "Fannin Street", and "Song for Jo", but claimed that "the synth-pop version of 'I Don't Wanna Grow Up,' famously covered by the Ramones, makes you wish Joey was still around to take the mic."

Stephen M. Deusner of Pitchfork Media viewed the album as "a Brooklyn update on vintage 4AD bands like This Mortal Coil or Cocteau Twins", but ultimately noted that "[t]he only thing we've learned about her is that she really, really likes Tom Waits. That's more than enough to avoid catastrophe, but not quite enough to make Anywhere I Lay My Head much more than a curio." Slant Magazine's Dave Hughes expressed that Johansson is "neither a particularly interesting nor a particularly skillful singer, and she spends much of the record locked into a sub-Nico hum that's quite a bit less charismatic than her husky line readings might suggest." Drowned in Sound's Alex Denney concluded, "Perversely given the record's comprehensive musical overhaul it's perhaps a surfeit of respect for the source material that proves Anywhere...'s undoing; for all its undoubted accomplishments there's a lingering suspicion that this is too safe, too respectable a record to do justice to an artist who remains forever mid-topple from the bar stool in the popular consciousness."

Commercial performance

Anywhere I Lay My Head debuted at number 126 on the Billboard 200, selling 5,100 copies in its first week. The album fared better in Europe, reaching number fifteen in Switzerland, number twenty-five in Austria, number twenty-six in France, number twenty-seven in Sweden, and number thirty in Belgium and Germany. By February 2010, the album had sold about 70,000 copies worldwide.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Fawn" (from Alice)	Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan	2:32
2.	"Town with No Cheer" (from Swordfishtrombones)	Waits	5:03
3.	"Falling Down" (from Big Time)	Waits	4:55
4.	"Anywhere I Lay My Head" (from Rain Dogs)	Waits	3:38
5.	"Fannin Street" (from Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards)	Waits, Brennan	5:06
6.	"Song for Jo"	Scarlett Johansson, David Andrew Sitek	4:09
7.	"Green Grass" (from Real Gone)	Waits, Brennan	3:33
8.	"I Wish I Was in New Orleans" (from Small Change)	Waits	3:59
9.	"I Don't Wanna Grow Up" (from Bone Machine)	Waits, Brennan	4:11
10.	"No One Knows I'm Gone" (from Alice)	Waits, Brennan	2:57
11.	"Who Are You" (from Bone Machine)	Waits, Brennan	4:20

iTunes deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Yesterday Is Here" (from Franks Wild Years)	Waits, Brennan	2:44
13.	"I'll Shoot the Moon" (from The Black Rider)	Waits	4:11
14.	"Falling Down" (video)		3:58

Japanese edition bonus track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Yesterday Is Here" (from Franks Wild Years)	Waits, Brennan	2:44

Personnel

Credits for Anywhere I Lay My Head adapted from liner notes.

• Scarlett Johansson – vocals (2–11)
• Tunde Adebimpe – vocals, loops (6)
• Sean Antanaitis – organ (1, 2, 11); wind chimes (1); tambourine, jingle bells (1–3, 5); pump organ (2–4); electric piano (2, 11); vibes (2, 3, 7); synthesizer (2–5, 7, 9, 10); bass pedals, bowls (2); guitorgan (3, 7, 11); banjo (3, 7); piano (3, 5, 11); guitar (5, 7); acoustic guitar, kalimba (7); music box (8)
• Dave Bergander – Nigerian logs (11)
• Stuart Bogie – saxophone (1, 2, 4); bass harmonica (2, 4)
• David Bowie – vocals (3, 5)
• Jaleel Bunton – bass (1, 9, 11); synthesizer (2); acoustic guitar (3–5); electric piano (4, 10); slide guitar (7)
• Greg Calbi – mastering
• Steve Fallone – mastering assistant
• David Farrell – assistant engineer (all tracks); tambourine, triangle (1)
• Rick Kwan – assistant engineer
• Paul McMenamin – design

• Chris Moore – engineer, mixing (all tracks); synthesizer (10)
• Sara Newkirk – management
• Martin Perna – saxophone (1, 2, 4); flute (6, 10)
• Korey Richey – assistant engineer (all tracks); jingle bells, tambourine (1); Tibetan bowls (2); acoustic guitar, guitar, rainstick, vocals, piano (6)
• Ryan Sawyer – drums (1–3, 7); Tibetan bowls (2, 10); dog bowl (2); tambourine (3, 11); bowed vibes (3); bowed cymbal (4); tom tom (5); jingle bells (7, 10); bells, snare drum (10); Nigerian logs (11)
• Liuba Shapiro – product manager
• David Andrew Sitek – producer, engineer, mixing (all tracks); guitar (2–6, 9–11); sampler (2–5, 7, 9–11); drum machine (4, 9, 11); synthesizer (5, 11); drums, acoustic guitar (6); kalimba (7); vocals (11); photography
• Brea Souders – photography, diorama creation
• Colin Suzuki – assistant engineer
• Ivo Watts-Russell – sequencing
• Brett Westfall – illustration
• Nick Zinner – guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11); slide guitar (3)

Charts

Album

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Australian Hitseekers Albums Chart	9
Austrian Albums Chart	25
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)	30
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)	45
European Top 100 Albums	27
French Albums Chart	26
German Albums Chart	30
Irish Albums Chart	65
Spanish Albums Chart	77
Swedish Albums Chart	27
Swiss Albums Chart	15
UK Albums Chart	64
US Billboard 200	126
US Top Heatseekers	1

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions
		BEL TIP (FL)	SWI
"Falling Down"	2008	23	70

Release history

Region	Date	Label
Germany	May 16, 2008	Warner Music
France	May 19, 2008
United Kingdom		Rhino Entertainment
United States	May 20, 2008	Atco Records
Sweden	May 21, 2008	Warner Music
Australia	May 23, 2008
Japan	June 25, 2008