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 - Tom - UK - vinyl LP - £15.00, $18.60, €17.40 (Back In Stock) (arrived 28-Mar-2024 09:05)on April 24, 2024 at 6:12 am
TOM JONES Tom (1970 UK 12-track stereo LP on a blue 'boxed' Decca label, housed in a front laminated picture sleeve with pinched spine and mono/stereo die-cut hole plus the correct blue-for-stereo inner. The sleeve shows only the lighest edgewear and the vinyl looks barely played SKL5045)
- Tom Jones - Till - UK - 7" vinyl - Promo - £10.00, $12.40, €11.60 (New Item) (arrived 14-Nov-2023 14:36)on April 24, 2024 at 6:12 am
TOM JONES Till (1971 UK blue & white Decca label promotional 7" vinyl single, also includes The Sun Died, with intact push out centre and generic Decca paper sleeve FR13236)
- Tom Jones - [Barry] Islands In The Stream - UK - CD/DVD single set - £9.99, $12.39, €11.59 (New Item) (arrived 29-Jun-2023 16:49)on April 24, 2024 at 6:12 am
VANESSA JENKINS & BRYN WEST featuring SIR TOM JONES & ROBIN GIBB [Barry] Islands In The Stream (2009 UK 5-track 2-disc [CD/DVD] single set - For a special one-off collaboration, Gavin & Stacey stars Rob Brydon & Ruth Jones have teamed up withlegendary Welsh crooner, Sir Tom Jones, and very special guest Robin Gibb to bring you 'Islands In The Stream'. Comprising of a 4-track enhanced CD single including Bryn's awesome cover version of James Blunt's 'Wiseman' and 'Something Stupid'[as seen inSeries 1 of 'Gavin & Stacey']; plus a 2-track DVD single featuring the laugh-out-loud video sees Bryn and Nessa head to Las Vegas to fulfil their dream of taking part in the World Karaoke Championships [complete with making-of footage] Picture sleeve housed in a slimline jewel case)
- Tom Jones - Live! At The Talk Of The Town - UK - vinyl LP - £15.00, $18.60, €17.40 (New Item) (arrived 01-Aug-2023 16:03)on April 24, 2024 at 6:12 am
TOM JONES Live! At The Talk Of The Town (1967 UK 14-track Mono LP on the red 'unboxed' Decca logo 'ffrr' label, front laminated picture sleeve. The sleeve shows just a little shelfwear with minor age yellowing and the vinyl remains in excellent condition with just a few light surface scuffs to show for over fifty years LK4874)
- Tom Jones - 24 Hours - Japanese - CD album - Promo - £25.00, $31.00, €29.00 (New Item) (arrived 29-Aug-2023 16:41)on April 24, 2024 at 6:12 am
TOM JONES 24 Hours (2008 Japanese 14-track promo sample CD album issued to radio stations and reviewers ahead of release, includes the bonus recordings Feels Like Music. Custom stamped inner rim on the disc and promo stickered back insert, complete with picture sleeve, fold-out English/Japanese lyric insert & obi-strip TOCP-66849)
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