In the twilight of his career, Tom Jones, like Johnny Cash before him, is producing a series of sparse covers records that showcase his still-powerful vocals. The last time out, on “Praise and Blame,” he took a stab at songs by Bob Dylan, Billy Joe Shaver, John Lee Hooker, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. On his new record, “Spirit in the Room,” also produced by Ethan Johns, Jones has a slightly more contemporary bent, with recent compositions by Paul Simon (“Love and Blessings”), Tom Waits (“Bad As Me”), and the Low Anthem (“Charlie Darwin”), along with older songs by Leonard Cohen (“Tower of Song”) and Blind Willie Johnson (“Soul of a Man”). The vocals are heartfelt and powerful; the arrangements are unobtrusive; the results are impressive.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/goingson/2012/05/tom-jones-spirit-in-the-room.html