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Tom Jones’ new album, “Spirit In The Room,” opens with the line “Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey” from the Leonard Cohen song “Tower Of Song,” but this is more a nod to his longevity than a suggestion that what follows is a musical farewell. Jones has in fact been experiencing a career resurgence since the critical and commercial success of the 2010 album “Praise And Blame,” and the signs are that “Spirit In The Room” will sustain that.

Tom Jones wisely reunited with the “Praise And Blame” producer, Ethan Johns, for “Spirit In The Room” and the new album once again features the back-to-basics production style that Jones is so well suited to. Johns evidently knows how to get the best out of Jones and that’s in full evidence on the aforementioned “Tower Of Song,” which contains the kind of understated, emotional performance that Jones gave on the “Praise and Blame” track “What Good Am I?” and the title song of his 2008 album “24 Hours”. We all know that the Welsh singer has enough power to cause a room to shake when he sings, but sometimes a song demands a different kind of performance, and his instincts are spot on with “Tower Of Song”.

“Tower Of Song” – Tom Jones

Next up is a cover of Paul McCartney’s Golden Globe-nominated song “(I Want to) Come Home,” which was written for the soundtrack of the 2009 movie “Everybody’s Fine”. It’s another fine performance from Jones on a song which carries a simple message about the importance of family and remembering where you come from – “It was fun hanging onto the moon, heading into the sun/But it’s been too long/Now I wanna come home.”

“Hit Or Miss” was selected as the first single from the album, which is no surprise given the infectious melody and appealing 12-string country-rock production.

“Hit Or Miss” (fan video) – Tom Jones

The Paul Simon songbook isn’t an obvious place for Tom Jones to seek material, as the pair couldn’t really be more different, but “Love And Blessings” proves to be a good choice. The song has a stop/start quality, with laidback and somewhat subdued verses, which give way to an up-tempo rock ‘n’ roll arrangement on the chorus, during which Jones’ rockabilly-style vocals are well suited to the “Ain’t no song like an old song, Charlie” lyric.

Jones sounds right at home on Blind Willie Johnson’s “Soul of a Man,” which he begins close to a growl in his lowest register. The bluesy gospel song includes the kind of spiritual questioning that was a feature of the “Praise And Blame” track “Burning Hell.” Like much of the material on the album, there’s a sense that Jones is in both reflective and contemplative mood – “I’ve traveled to different countries/I’ve traveled to the foreign lands/I’ve found nobody could tell me/Tell me, what is the soul of a man”.

“Soul Of A Man” – Tom Jones (on Later With Jools Holland)

You might expect Jones to be out of his comfort zone on Tom Waits’ “Bad To Me,” but he rises to the occasion with a spirited performance, complete with manic laughs. It might be the most unconventional performance of his career.

The Richard and Linda Thompson track, “Dimming of the Day,” receives another subtle and controlled performance from Jones, and another understated arrangement, dominated by acoustic guitar and simple percussion.

“Traveling Shoes” has a cool, moody blues arrangement, with nice use of slide guitar and upright bass. It’s probably the most predictable vocal on the album, but still a fine performance, and there’s some good variation in the repeated line “Got my traveling shoes” as the song tapers off.

The moody, piano-led “All Blues Hail Mary” was penned by singer/songwriter/producer, Joe Henry, who produced Hugh Laurie’s 2011 album “Let Them Talk,” on which Tom Jones guested. This is heavy material and receives a suitably serious and considered performance from Jones.

The closing track, a cover of Low Anthem’s “Charlie Darwin,” highlights that Jones is paying attention to what new talent has to say. The arrangement is not too far removed from the original, and Jones’ rich baritone is a pleasing substitute for Ben Knox Miller’s haunting falsetto. The church choir style ending is also very effective.

There’s plenty of fun to be had on the promo for “Spirit In The Room,” which features Rob Brydon and Tom Jones in a skit that mocks Jones’ recent name-dropping tendencies on the television show “The Voice.”

“Spirit In The Room” – Comedy promo with Tom Jones and Rob Brydon

In conclusion…

Those who admired “Praise and Blame” will be glad that Tom Jones has chosen to stick with the R&B and gospel-inspired groove for at least one more album. “Spirit In The Room” is not simply “Praise and Blame” Part Two though. The overall tone of the album is darker than its predecessor and you won’t find anything as toe-tapping or infectious as the likes of “Strange Things” or “Didn’t It Rain?” on this album. That’s not a criticism though. While there is a little less fun to be had here, there is a continuity in the production and performances that masks the fact that this fine selection of songs are from disparate sources and, in some cases, written decades apart. You’ll also encounter some of Tom Jones’ most believable and moving performances of his long career.

Rating: 5/5

The deluxe edition of “Spirit In The Room” includes the bonus tracks “Just Dropped in,” “Lone Pilgrim” and “When The Deal Goes Down”.

“Spirit In The Room” can be purchased now from:

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