Forty years on since he first started his career and 28 since he reinvented himself with the utterly thrilling piece of work that was Swordfishtrombones, it seems as if the demented demi-god that is Tom Waits still has a few surprises left up his hobo’s sleeve: Bad As Me is possibly his poppiest and most accessible sounding offering to date. All 13 of the tracks average around three minutes or so in length, and see the singer hark back to the music of his youth for a decidedly old school R&B flavoured affair on what is his first album of new material since 04’s Real Gone.
Waits kicks record number 17 off with the reassuringly bizarre, horn-heavy ‘Chicago’, which sounds like an old school video game soundtrack reimagined by our gravel-voiced hero. ‘Raised Right Men’ gets us back to the more familiar terrain we’ve come to expect from Tom, and features a typically overstated vocal performance. However, it’s not until he hits us with the rockabilly sounds of ‘Let’s Get Lost’ and ‘Satisfied’ that we get a real taster of where his head’s at right now, and his drunken Eddie Cochran routine hints at a more reflective, almost nostalgic performer than we’ve seen in the past who’s capable of finding humour in his own teenage kicks.
The delicate duet with rent-a-pirate Keith Richards from the Stones on ‘Last Leaf’, and the lilting ‘Pay Me’ (which sounds like a less pie-eyed Pogues) also tap into this contemplative approach, this time painting a picture of Waits as an aging bar-room hero rather than a young jukebox Romeo. By the time we reach album closer ‘New Year’s Eve,’ which recalls ‘The Last Waltz’, it seems as if Tom is teasing us of his retirement.
Only time will tell if this really is the end for the great circus performer-come-troubadour or the dawn of something new. But if this truly is his last album then he’s going out on top. Bad As Me is among his best albums – and that’s really saying something.