The usual cacophony typifying Tom Waits’ most recent releases is tempered on this most brilliant recent offering. But that’s not to say all is ballads and sweet sounds—his battery of carnivalesque rhythmic gestures and oddball characters still rule the show (“Bad As Me” and “Hell Broke Luce”). One can’t help feel we are witnessing a kinder more approachable side to Waits. Take “Face to the Highway” or the Delta blues-influenced “Talking at the Same Time”—his gravelly growl is softened as his voice reaches for a higher register. And when was the last time he pulled out his piano-lounge love song hat as he does with “Kiss Me”? Tom Waits soothing? Better believe it.
This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2012.