Trapped inside Scarlett Johansson's porcelain skin is the voice of a canary—in a coal mine. A worldly alto pops out of those pouty lips, thus making her choice to release an album of Tom Waits covers a bit less odd. While surprisingly deep, Johansson's pipes don't approach the dirt gargle of Waits himself. But she's an actress, and his songs are some of the best monologues ever set to music. Cuts like "Falling Down" come off like a Cambridge girl doing karaoke at the campus bar. But others achieve poignancy: See "Fannin Street," intrepidly plucked from Waits' 2006 three-CD outtakes collection, or album closer "Who Are You," which doubles Johansson's voice with producer David Sitek's bass, hinting at a Waits duet of acceptance. The whole set is heavily dosed with reverb and electro-swirls, perhaps to cloak Johansson's vocal limitations as much as to add psychedelia. —Kerri Mason