Tom Waits Previews New Live Album, Glitter and Doom

Would you believe Tom Waits has never had an official web site? Well, the grizzled veteran of song has just launched one, and it’s delightfully Waits-ian, featuring pearls of his strange wisdom and a junk shop aesthetic.

Visitors to Tomwaits.com who send their e-mail address can now preview the first eight songs of Waits’ upcoming live album, Glitter and Doom, a two-disc collection of tracks from Waits’ recent Glitter and Doom tour through the US and Europe.

According to the site, the album “features all eras of Waits’ as he shifts from an array of characters: carnival barker, preacher, country singer, soul balladeer; cabaret singer and storyteller. ….As expected, the songs are about hanged men, woebegone sailors, sword swallowers, fugitives, shamans, ghosts, dance instructors and prison guards.”

The album, due November 24 on Anti-, will come with a bonus disc, called Tom Tales, which collects some of Waits’ trademark stage banter. Dubbed Tom Tales, it’s full of “comic bromides, strange musings, and unusual facts that Tom traditionally shares with his audience during the piano set. The topics range from the ritual of insects to the last dying breath of Henry Ford.”

Fans of Tom Waits who just can’t wait for the new album can tide themselves over with NPR’s All Songs Considered episode which captures the Glitter and Doom tour stop in Atlanta in July.

Tom Waits – Glitter and Doom Live from Anti Records on Vimeo.