February 25, 2008 17:40

David Bowie: 'Scarlett Johansson's performances are mystical'

Legend explains his involvement on the starlet's debut album

David Bowie has spoken about his work on Scarlett Johansson’s debut album, a collection of covers of Tom Waits songs.

The rock legend added backing vocals to two tracks on 'Anywhere I Lay My Head' - 'Falling Down' and 'Fannin' Street'.

Posting on his official site BowieNet, the singer said: “The songs are great, really good Tom Waits stuff, and Scarlett's performances are mystical and twice cool. She creates a mood that could have been summoned by someone like Margery Latimer or Jeanette Winterson.”

However, the veteran artist played down his contributions to the record, saying: “I've seen the press on this and I suppose the record company wanted to spin my involvement a little more than it actually warrants. All I contribute are these oo's and ah's on a couple of tracks.

“[TV On The Radio’s] David Sitek, the producer, originally asked me to do three songs, but for one of them, ‘I Don't Wanna Grow Up’, I didn't feel I could contribute much to it, so I left it alone.”

The tracklisting of 'Anywhere I Lay My Head', released on May 19, is:

'Fawn'
'Town With No Cheer'
'Falling Down'
'Anywhere I Lay My Head'
'Fannin’ Street'
'Song for Jo'
'Green Grass'
'I Wish I Was in New Orleans'
'I Don’t Want to Grow Up'
'No One Knows I'm Gone'
'Who Are You?'

The Shockwaves NME Awards 2008 take place this Thursday (February 28) at a special ceremony in London. Follow all the action here, head to NME.COM/awardsvote for full details.