Long Lost Suitcase
Tom Jones
Virgin / EMI
Two stars
When you think about country-folk music, you don't think Tom Jones, but that's exactly the aesthetic the legendary Welsh vocalist is shooting for on Long Lost Suitcase, his 41st studio record.
The release completes a trilogy of covers albums that include 2010's gospel Praise & Blame and 2012's folksy Spirit in the Room. Featuring renditions of tunes made famous by luminaries such as Willie Nelson, Hank Williams and The Rolling Stones – the record nicely wraps up an ambitious late-career revitalisation.
While his voice is a tad raspier and more weathered than it was in his heyday, it's still impossible to picture Jones singing these humbler tunes without at least a smirk on his face. Though 75 years old, Jones has swagger to spare, as is especially evident on the album's more upbeat tunes, such as Little Willie John's Take My Love (I Want to Give It) and Chicago-blues standard I Wish You Would. His bombastic voice is one of the most recognisable in recording history, and it's still an impressive instrument.
But it's the quieter moments that are the album's strength. The opening cover of Nelson's Opportunity to Cry is a loving tribute, and 1960s folk song He Was a Friend of Mine is stripped down to nothing but sporadic plucks of an acoustic guitar and Jones's patented baritone, delivered here with enough delicacy to make you imagine an alternate universe where the artist's entire career was as a singer-songwriter. That Jones can dial back the braggadocio and deliver a traditional lament, such as the latter song, is a credit to his artistry, and it's actually pleasantly jarring. Who knew Tom Jones could make you cry?
His voice is admittedly still a bit of a square peg in some of these round holes. Factory Girl could have used a bit more restraint on his part, while 'Til My Back Ain't Got No Bone is awkwardly paced and uneven. The more-modern covers – The Milk Carton Kids' Honey, Honey and Gillian Welch's Elvis Presley Blues – are interesting additions, but fall flat in execution.
It’s not an essential record by any means, and it’s hard to picture anybody apart from Jones’s most devoted fans finding too many thrills here. But that the man is still delivering any thrills this late in his hall-of-fame career is pretty remarkable in itself.
kjeffers@thenational.ae
