Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson - Break Up

I am shocked and amazed at how much the collaborative album between Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson, Break Up, doesn't suck. If I would have known that it is as good as it is, I would have listened to it quite some time ago. You know, like in 2009 when it came out. Sorry for the late arrival, guys.

First of all, I didn't even know Johansson had an album (if you can really call it that). She apparently put out a debut album in 2008, Anywhere I Lay My Head, comprised of one original song and 10 Tom Waits covers, which is pretty freakin' weird. What's even weirder is that she's really not half bad. I can kind of see why Yorn picked her for the Serge Gainsbourg and Bridget Bardot-esque album. I mean, she's no Bardot, that's a given, but she's got an old school, gravelly voice in the best sense of the term. Sort of Karen Bergquist from Over the Rhine, but less mature. The duo hits the mark somewhere between Gainsbourg/Bardot and Ward/Deschanel.

The beginning of this album is utterly fantastic. Really. I'm not even being sarcastic here, so take it while you can get it. It opens with the "hit" of the album, "Relator", which is one of the few songs on here that seems to have a good balance of Johansson and Yorn. They're both quiet, and they play off of each other so well over an old-school guitar line and minimalistic, well, everything else. It's nothing fancy, it's good, old-fashioned rock music. Followed by the slightly 60's, somewhat island like, Jack Johnson sounding "Wear and Tear", the album really just sucks you in with awe. Perhaps that's just me, though, because I really expected this album to be terrible. "I Don't Know What to Do" blends ScarJo's smokey voice and Yorn's whisper-y vocals into a classic alt-country ballad, while "Search Your Heart" has Johansson perfecting those "whoa-ohs".

While I'm generally a lukewarm Pete Yorn fan (read: a musicforthemorningafter fan) I find myself anxiously awaiting Johansson's parts and wondering when she's going to get a song of her own on the album, and then it comes...

The ridiculous, pointless cover of Big Star Bell's "I Am the Cosmos". It's weak and bland, and generally just no good. After that, this album becomes a trainwreck. Thank god that song is 2/3 of the way into the album. After that, it's just three, uninspired songs that feel like they were just stuck at the end of the album to fill some space. Man, I hate that. At least if you know that some of those songs suck, mix it up a little bit, dammit.

As for Yorn, anything after musicforthemorningafter has been pretty, lame. Just your standard, run of the mill pop music that tends to get lost in the sea of mediocre pop albums produced every day, so I really wasn't expecting much from him. He sounds pretty much like he does on every album, but at least this time, he has someone else to shake things up a little bit. 

It's amazing how quickly this album turns around. With such a promising beginning, the rest of the album is such a sore let down. I can tell you one thing, though. The thing that I took away from this, is that I will definitely be watching out for the new Johansson album! It gets a B, minus, only because the beginning is so damn good. Such a shame about the end.

You can actually check out the whole album streaming on their Myspace, as well as a few tracks from both of them, separately. Check 'em out!

"Relator"



"Wear and Tear"


 "I Don't Know What to Do"

Pete Yorn - Back and Fourth

No, that's not a typo.

Pete Yorn has released his fourth studio album, Back and Fourth (clever, huh?), the first to escape  "the trilogy" of musicforthemorningafter, Day I Forgot, and Nightcrawler.

This is definitely his best album since musicforthemorningafter, but sadly, it falls a little short. Not that Pete Yorn is one to make shockingly life changing albums for the majority of the population, but I enjoyed the radio worthiness of musicforthemorningafter and have been known to sing "For Nancy" in the shower from time to time. Shut up...

Anyway, this album's alright. Pretty mediocre through and through. He does seem to have a bit more of a country twang on this album, especially in the first single, "Don't Wanna Cry". This song is right on the other side of the border of what I consider an okay amount of country in a song (see: Old 97's).

This album did come out just in the knick of time, though. With tracks like "Paradise Cove", "Last Summer" and "Thinking of You", this album easily could be that summer-camp romance album.

The only thing that saves this album is Yorn's voice. Apparently he's gone through some pretty nasty rough patches since '06's Nightcrawler, and you can tell. His voice has this hint of sorrow in it that hasn't quite been there before, especially on "Long Time Nothing New", which is easily the best song on the album. Minimal guitar and piano set an amazing stage for that voice of his, without leaving the song sounding underproduced and naked (as if, when you're working with producers like Mike Yogus).

The album in general is well produced and the cover art hails a throw back to 60's Doors, but all in all, it's certainly not going to be the album of the year. C

Pete Yorn's Site