Tom Jones International

You can pre-order Tom’s new CD, 24 Hours by clicking the link at right.

In the UK tabloid The Sun Gordon Smart’s BIZarre column offers a first look to Tom’s new video and a first listen to some of the CD.

If you go to the link above, the video and some of the songs are posted.

We love that and are grateful. And we love this new photo of Tom that, we assume, is part of the PR package for the CD. Finally! Some good, up-to-date pictures! Life is good.

But (sorry, there always seems to be a “but” with Tom and this kind of thing) why was this guy chosen to be the first to hear it and see the video? He’s no friend of Tom’s and, in fact, neither is The Sun.. Mr. Smart calls it “surprisingly good” and calls Tom a “veteran lothario” and says the album is “another attempt by Tom to find a new audience.” Mr. Smart, he’s found new audiences over the years and they stay with him. Gads! And, how much of this CD did Tom actually write? The whole album? We’re curious to find out.

Doesn’t whomever makes these decisions realize that the negative and the smarmy is the stuff that gets picked up by other news outlets? Surely, one of the music pubs in the UK or — why not? — the US would have been more suitable. We have to wait more than two months for the product. (He also got the release date wrong and the name of the producers.) What’s the rush?

Tom’s new CD … it’s unusual

IT’S taken 40 years — but TOM JONES has finally turned his hand to writing an album.

The Voice Of The Valleys has reinvented himself yet again for new collection 24 Hours — which echoes JOHNNY CASH’s late renaissance when he worked with producer RICK RUBIN.

I’m the first journalist to hear Tom’s soulful new record and, I have to say, it’s surprisingly good.

Highlights include the veteran lothario’s most personal track ever, The Road, about his numerous infidelities to wife Linda during their 50 years of marriage.

Tom said: “It’s about how my road always leads back to her. She may not have liked some of the things I did but I could not be apart.”

The 13-track album, out on November 17, is another attempt by Tom to find a new audience.

It was masterminded by FUTURE CUTS, the producers behind LILY ALLEN and KATE NASH — and features one song, Sugar Daddy, penned for Tom by U2 heavyweights BONO and THE EDGE.

Epic Seasons is another standout track — a gospel stormer about Tom’s relationship with his past.

Jones Co-Writes On First U.S. Release In 15 Years

British Duo Future Cut Get Majority Of Production Credits; U2’s Bono And The Edge Write And Play On New Song Penned Just For Jones

Legendary singer Tom Jones will release his first new US studio album in 15 years on November 25th on S-Curve Records. Entitled ‘24 Hours’, most of th 13 songs are co-written by Jones and produced by British duo Future Cut, who have recently helmed tracks for Lily Allen, Kate Nash, Estelle, and others.

Jones co-wrote over half of the songs on 24 Hours, a first for him. “It’s all very well just singing songs, but for this record I really wanted to get properly personal. I’ve been getting reflective recently, looking over my journey through life, and I wanted to make something that was all about me, my stories, to get that down in song. In other words, you listen to this album and you get the real me.” While the production references the impassioned cinematic classics of his early career mixed with a current cross-genre template, the performances deliver the unique power and iconic sound of Jones’ voice, given over to expressing the range and emotion of a mature man who has lived a large and full life.

In addition to Jones’ co-written songs, Bono and the Edge of U2 contribute and play guitar on a brand new song Sugar Daddy, written specifically for Jones and inspired by a meeting of the friends in a pub in Dublin. Elsewhere, Jones soars on the Tommy James and the Shondells classic I’m Alive, produced by the team of SAM and SLUGGO (Gym Class Heroes, Metro Station), delivers a devastating take on Bruce Springsteen’s “The Hitter,” produced Steve Greenberg, Michael Mangini and Betty Wright (the team behind Joss Stone’s first two albums), swings a classic cool latin beat on the Pumali Panthers’ “Style and Rhythm,” and performs a previously unrecorded composition by Stax legend Carla Thomas, “More Than Memories.”

According to S-Curve CEO Steve Greenberg, “Tom Jones is one of the most versatile and emotionally powerful singers in contemporary music. He has made an album that fully showcases his range as a performer. On top of that, his emergence as co-writer of much of this album conveys a lifetime of experiences that is both reflective and uplifting.”

Knighted by Her Majesty the Queen of England in 2006, Sir Tom has sold over one hundred million records worldwide, and had eighteen Top 40 singles and ten RIAA-certified Gold albums in the United States. His last album, 2000’s ‘Reload’ (released ex-US), was the most successful of his career to date, selling over five million copies. Jones was awarded a Grammy in 1965 as “Best New Artist,” a 2000 Brit Award as “Best Male Vocalist,” and an Outstanding Contribution to Music was awarded by the BPI in 2003. A 3-DVD retrospective of his 1970’s television series This Is Tom Jones was released in 2007 to critical acclaim. Jones continues to play over 200 live shows per year and plans to promote and tour extensively in support of 24 Hours.

Tom Jones 24 Hours 1. I’m Alive; 2. If He Should Ever Leave You; 3. We Got Love; 4. Give A Little Love; 5. The Road; 6. In Style And Rhythm; 7. Sugar Daddy; 8. Seasons; 9. Never; 10. The Hitter; 11. Seen That Face; 12. 24 Hours; 13. More Than Memories