Tom Jones' latest record, Praise & Blame, is tellingly being released through Lost Highway, the country label for which Johnny Cash recorded his late-life American albums, and it's every bit as streamlined as those Cash records, stripping Jones of his usual horns and gaudy Las Vegas arrangements. It's a gospel-blues record, and an ostensibly somber one, with the 70-year-old lounge singer's mortality looming as a blunt subtext. Even when he's bellowing about his grave or the possibility of burning in hell for eternity, though, Jones sings like he's having too much fun to disguise his big, show-biz grin. Recorded with pianist Booker T Jones and a small choir of friends including Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, these songs were captured in single takes with no overdubs, yet instead of showing a different side of Jones, that raw, warts-and-all sound further affirms Jones as the consummate, jolly showman, eager to entertain in any setting.
A couple YouTube embeds are in order for this one, which might not be the poignant statement it's being marketed as, but has personality to spare:
Other new releases this week include:
* Mines, another strong effort from computer-savvy indie oddballs Menomena
* A little publicized new record from Dru Hill, Indrupendence Day, un-lovingly released a month after July 4
* The Dark Side, Vol. 1, an unexpected foray into horror-core from rapper Fat Joe
* And Nightmare, from metalcore mainstays Avenged Sevenfold.
