Scarlett Seduces in First Live Performance

NEW YORK (May 16) - While many of her Hollywood peers mine the fields of pop and dance music, actress Scarlett Johansson decided to do something a bit different for her first crack at the record industry. The actress is releasing a set comprised almost entirely of Tom Waits covers and for the first time has emerged to perform several of those tracks live. Watch @ AOL Music Sessions
The husky voiced actress is promoting her first album, "Anywhere I Lay My Head," made up almost entirely of songs by cult hero Waits. She considers the project a labor of love and isn't entirely sure how or if her celebrity status will affect the album's popularity."I hope people enjoy the music, but it's not like we made an album of pop hits that are gonna hit the charts and go off the charts and sell platinum records and stuff like that," she told AOL Music. "It's an album that we made for our own lifestyle that we thought was a cool project, and maybe perhaps more people will be aware of it because they know my name from films.But whether that harms or enhances the success of the album -- it's all fair game, really."Listen to Waits' Original

Johansson, whose films include "Lost in Translation" and "The Nanny Diaries," said the idea of a Tom Waits cover album came about after a song she recorded for a benefit CD impressed the record label."I hadn't really thought about it before, I mean I always loved musical theater when I was a kid -- it was how I started acting, doing a lot of vocal lessons when I was little," she said. "But I certainly never thought about doing an entire album">>WATCH SCARLETT PERFORM & READ THE FULL INTERVIEWReviews for "Anywhere" have been mixed. Rolling Stone gave it two and a half stars, calling the actress a "faintly goth Marilyn Monroe lost in a sonic fog." NME, however, dubbed it "completely brilliant" and believes it will "no doubt top some 'best of 2008' lists."The album, on Atco Records, hits stores May 20.Victoria's Secret Fashion Show


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