Singer-songwriter Pete Yorn’s 2009 is shaping up as a very busy year. After his fourth album “Back and Fourth” hits stores on June 23, he’s scheduled to release a Serge Gainsbourg/Brigitte Bardot-style duets record with actress/singer Scarlett Johansson this fall. Entitled “Break Up,” the nine song set is due September 8 via Atco/Rhino. The lead single, “Relator,” is available starting today (May 26) via iTunes and streaming on the album’s website.
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While best known for her film work (“Lost In Translation,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” “Match Point”) Johansson released her first album “Anywhere I Lay My Head” in 2008, under the production helm of TV on the Radio’s David Sitek. The album featured 10 Tom Waits covers along with one original and was met with mixed critical reception. According to Nielson SoundScan, “Anywhere I Lay My Head” has sold 19,000.
Yet the conception and recording of “Break Up” predates “Anywhere I Lay My Head” by two years. In a release, Yorn says “I was having a strange week of insomnia and when I finally passed out, it came to me in a dream. I woke up and the whole thing was in my head, fully formed.”
Only after playing the resulting recording efforts for a few friends, was Yorn convinced to finally release “Break Up.” The album features eight Yorn originals plus a cover of Big Star’s “I Am The Cosmos.”
As previously reported, Yorn has been touring with Coldplay as the opening act, with his run ending on June 4 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It’s unknown whether or not he and Johansson will bring “Break Up” to a live setting.
Here is the track list for “Break Up”:
“Relator”
“Wear and Tear”
“I Don’t Know What To Do”
“Search Your Heart”
“Blackie’s Dead”
“I Am The Cosmos”
“Shampoo”
“Clean”
“Someday”