Internal Debate: Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johannson

Features • Tuesday September 8th, 2009 • 12:00 am

The question before our Staff Writers for this latest go ’round for Internal Debate was a curious one. Namely, what happens when you combine a Hollywood starlet like Scarlett Johannson with the Jersey grit of Pete Yorn? It’s an unlikely pairing, but after She & Him, anything seems possible, I suppose.

So in an effort to provide some answers, we allowed our writers to hear the results of the Johansson/Yorn collaboration entitled Break Up. And like a lukewarm bowl of soup, they’re all left shrugging their collective shoulders and saying “it’s okay.” See for yourself:

Scarlett Johansson wowed me with her Tom Waits cover album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, and Pete Yorn lost my interest after his debut, musicforthemorningafter. Before hearing anything, I thought this dichotomy of successful actress turned up and coming musician and artist who headed south from where he started to be quite an intriguing collaboration of minds. I approached their collective effort, Break Up, with very little to expect. It’s far from great, but fair enough to be considered a good pop album. Their single, “Relator”, is a catchy tune, but not nearly well written enough to last. I didn’t take much from this album, but I did conclude, however, that Scarlett & Pete > She & Him. [Steve Schusler]

Break Up is not as bad as I expected. In fact it’s not half bad at all. Johansson shines in her back-up role and Yorn sounds considerably less boring as usual. The lead off single “Relator” shows the great dynamic the two have together as they trade vocals back and forth over a good pop melody. For similar reasons “Search Your Heart” and “Clean” are standouts. The album does have its sluggish moments, particularly when Johansson is reduced in the equation, but her presence is good enough to keep this effort afloat. [William Trinity III]

One last time, then I’ll shut up about it forever: Scarlett Johansson’s Anywhere I Lay My Head was better than it’s reputation. Regardless, Johansson’s flat, wooden vocals were easily the album’s biggest liability. Fortunately, Pete Yorn has found a way to put her to better use, that is to say, as Brigitte Bardot to his Serge Gainsbourg on their newly released Break Up. Though Break Up, in it’s conception and brief running length, all but admits to the slightness of this endeavor, the album is carried by a breezy charm apparent in each deliberately undercooked tune. It doesn’t all work (the lone electro-pop number, “Clean,” is a distracting and boring outlier), but Break Up’s failures, much like it’s successes, are minor. Don’t expect much and you’ll find that there are worse ways to spend twenty-eight minutes. [Daniel Kirschenbaum]

After her Tom Waits covers album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, many listeners were left wondering if Scarlett Johansson could, in fact, sing. That question is answered on the surprisingly delightful The Break Up with a resounding “Yes.” Matched with Pete Yorn, she makes the perfect foil for Yorn’s vintage pop anatomy of a break up, pairing her sultry sass with his husky ramble. She & Him they aren’t, but what they are is good, too. [Natalie B. David]

Tagged as: Internal Debate

By Steve Schusler, William Trinity, Natalie David and Daniel Kirschenbaum

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“Fortunately, Pete Yorn has found a way to put her to better use, that is to say, as Brigitte Bardot to his Serge Gainsbourg on their newly released Break Up.”