From Loudersound.
Thought the bewildering popularity of sea shanties was set to be the most confusing musical development of 2021? Well, hold your horses: Tom Jones has handed his beer to the seafaring community and entered the fray.
Having forged a career as Wales’ favourite son and premier crooner, Jones’ newest single, a spoken-word cover of US singer-songwriter Todd Snider’s Talking Reality Television Blues, takes an unexpected, if welcome, side-step into the world of alternative rock.
Honestly, we here at Louder don’t hate it. It’s got a ‘Tom Waits does Radiohead but in Welsh’ vibe, with a touch of that Baz Luhrmann Sunscreen song. So far, so 90s.
Lyrically, it runs through the snowballing damage television has inflicted on the collective modern psyche – a bold move considering Jones is himself a reality TV star thanks to his judging role on the UK’s version of talent competition The Voice – ending with the not-at-all-pointed: ‘Then a show called The Apprentice came on and pretty soon/An old man with a comb-over had sold us the moon/We stayed tuned in, now here we are/Reality killed by a reality star‘.
Popular musicians turning to alternative sounds in a bid to appear hip to the beat is nothing new. When hair metal was all but wiped out by a tsunami of knitted cardigans and dirgy guitars, a number of those bands tried their hand at a mid-90s grunge album in an attempt to cling on to relevancy (yes, Def Leppard, we’re looking at you). But where many of them missed the mark, for Sir Tom it seems an unnervingly natural fit. Could this be the start of a glittering alt-rock career? Well, it’s 2021. Anything could happen.
Talking Reality Television Blues is taken from Jones’ upcoming covers album, Surrounded By Time, which is due on April 23. The full tracklisting is below.
Surrounded By Time tracklisting
1. I Won’t Crumble With You If You Fall (Bernice Johnson Reagon)
2. The Windmills Of Your Mind (Michel Legrand/Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
3. Popstar (Yusuf/Cat Stevens)
4. No Hole In My Head (Malvina Reynolds)
5. Talking Reality Television Blues (Todd Snider)
6. I Won’t Lie (Michael Kiwanuka & Paul Butler)
7. This Is The Sea (Michael Scott)
8. One More Cup Of Coffee (Bob Dylan)
9. Samson And Delilah (Tom Jones, Ethan Johns, Mark Woodward)
10. Mother Earth (Tony Jo White)
11. I’m Growing Old (Bobby Cole)
12. Lazarus Man (Terry Callier)
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- Tom Jones - Help Yourself - UK - vinyl LP - £18.00, $22.86, €21.60 (New Item) (arrived 14-Nov-2024 18:00)on November 21, 2024 at 11:50 am
TOM JONES Help Yourself (1968 UK 11-track mono LP on the red unboxed Decca label, front laminated picture sleeve. The sleeve shows ringwear and a little paper loss to the reverse, whilst the vinyl is Excellent with minimal sign of play LK4982)
- Tom Jones - Help Yourself - UK - vinyl LP - £18.00, $22.86, €21.60 (New Item) (arrived 14-Nov-2024 09:50)on November 21, 2024 at 11:50 am
TOM JONES Help Yourself (1968 UK 11-track mono LP on the red unboxed Decca label, front laminated picture sleeve. The sleeve shows ringwear and a little paper loss to the reverse, whilst the vinyl is Excellent with minimal sign of play LK4982)
- Tom Jones - Live At Caesars Palace, Las Vegas - UK - vinyl LP - £10.00, $12.70, €12.00 (New Item) (arrived 02-Nov-2024 18:00)on November 21, 2024 at 11:50 am
TOM JONES Live At Caesars Palace, Las Vegas (Mid 70s UK issue of the 1971 14-track LP featuring live recordings from a performance in Las Vegas which saw Tom backed by a band comprising of Big Jim Sullivan, Kenny Clare, Shadows bassist John Rostill & vocal ensemble The Blossoms. The front laminated picture sleeve & the vinyl are in Excellent condition MFP50351)
- Tom Jones - Live At Caesars Palace, Las Vegas - UK - vinyl LP - £10.00, $12.70, €12.00 (New Item) (arrived 02-Nov-2024 12:40)on November 21, 2024 at 11:50 am
TOM JONES Live At Caesars Palace, Las Vegas (Mid 70s UK issue of the 1971 14-track LP featuring live recordings from a performance in Las Vegas which saw Tom backed by a band comprising of Big Jim Sullivan, Kenny Clare, Shadows bassist John Rostill & vocal ensemble The Blossoms. The front laminated picture sleeve & the vinyl are in Excellent condition MFP50351)
- Tom Jones - Couldn't Say Goodbye - UK - 12" vinyl - £8.00, $10.16, €9.60 (New Item) (arrived 16-Jul-2024 11:54)on November 21, 2024 at 11:50 am
TOM JONES Couldn't Say Goodbye (1991 UK 3-track 12" vinyl single including Zip It Up & Kiss The Art Of Noise Remix, price-stickered picture sleeve printed with 1991 Tour Dates on the reverse, ROJX10)
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