Break Up

Pete Yorn, Scarlett Johansson, Pete Yorn/Scarlett Johansson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 15, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B002AOWXO0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,820 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Relator

2. Wear And Tear

3. I Don't Know What To Do

4. Search Your Heart

5. Blackie's Dead

6. I Am The Cosmos

7. Shampoo

8. Clean

9. Someday

Editorial Reviews

2009 collaboration between the singer/songwriter and actress/vocalist. Includes eight original compositions by Pete/Scarlett in the spirit of Serge Gainsbourg's recording with Brigitte Bardot. The album re-enacts the tempestuous course of a love affair on the rocks. The album had its genesis in the aftermath of a breakup in 2006. After Yorn was unable to sleep for a week, he finally dozed off, only to wake with a start just minutes later. What had awakened him was a dream. "I sat up in bed, and the whole thing was in my head, fully formed," Yorn says, sounding as if he still doesn't quite believe it. "I suddenly felt like I really needed to make a record in the style of Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot. Not that it had to sound like that, but it had to be a guy-and-girl conceptual thing. So then I asked myself, 'Who's Brigitte Bardot today? It's Scarlett Johansson.'" Featuring an interpretation of the classic 'I Am the Cosmos' by the late Chris Bell co-founder of Big Star.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Freaking Awesome! October 19, 2009

By BTrain

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ok, admittedly this music is very mellow and is stuff you might put on a playlist with a name like "Alone in the Dark," "Struck Out at the Bar Last Night" or "Just Got Dumped." For the kind of music it is I think this CD (or whatever you call a group of songs these days) is great. The only songs I don't really like too much are the "Blackie's Dead" songs since they don't quite seem to fit with the rest of the music for some reason. Song like "I am the Cosmos" are awesome though.

When I originally bought this I had some trepidation about Scarlett Johansen and her vocals on these tracks but they blend very well with the type of music it is. Her voice is much better than I expected but she still doesn't show that she has a very powerful voice like a Broadway singer or anything but, the cool thing, is that she didn't need to on any of these songs and for what she needed to do her voice worked very well.

Check out the songs and grab it you feel like you need some new kind of mellow music and don't be afraid of an actress trying to sing in this case.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly Surprised! September 16, 2009

By John DeSombre

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was a bit skeptical after reading some of the reviews on here and because I had never heard Scarlett J. sing before. Wow! I was thoroughly and pleasantly surprised. She can sing and the entire album was a breath of fresh air. Give a listen to the samples before listening to the haters (i.e. judge for yourself!).

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Laid-Back Charms September 15, 2009

By Richard Hine

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

"Break-Up" is an album it's tempting to make excuses for in advance. Recorded over three days ("casual") back in 2006 ("not rushed to market") and now appearing in the shadow of Zooey Deschanel's and M. Ward's She & Him: Volume One ("not as good as...").

Plus, it's a "concept album." Another danger sign.

Still, I took the plunge. This album is my first investment in the music of Pete Yorn, but my second in Scarlett Johansson's musical career. Her 2008 release of Tom Waits covers "Anywhere I Lay My Head" didn't rack up a whole lot of plays on my iPod. But the song "Falling Down" is definitely worth a download (at the very least, check out the video with its Salman Rushdie cameo). Johansson's vocals got mostly lost in her Dave Sitek-produced debut. Here, they more than hold their own, with a bluesy delivery that works well against Yorn's laid-back vocals.

Yorn is said to have been inspired by the Serge Gainsbourg-Brigitte Bardot "Bonnie & Clyde" collaboration of the 1960s. And he seems to have found lyrical inspiration in the songs of the past, too, with many of the lyrics seemingly plucked from a familiar pop-heartbreak grab-bag.

If nothing else, perhaps Scarlett Johansson will do for Pete Yorn musically what she did for Woody Allen at the movies - attract some broader interest to help perk up his career. Which is maybe why the album is being taken off the shelf right now. Ultimately, as it tracks the course of a relationship, the album doesn't quite live up to its early, enthusiastic excitement ("Relator").

But there's no need to make excuses: "Break Up" is an album of considerable charms.