Do you need a three-disc Tom Waits album? Probably not. After a decade of exploring the sonic dark, dusty holes Swordfishtrombones and Frank’s Wild Years implied existed, he has finally mapped out his musical world. In that sense, there’s nothing on Orphans that surprises.

 

But need is rarely the issue, and after spending years exploring his musical terrain, Waits has produced an album that doesn’t sound compulsively crusty. He seems comfortable in his world and situates songs in familiar sounds—some made by the crank in the junkyard, some by the barroom romantic left alone with a piano. Many of the songs are literally from his musical journeys—leftovers, soundtrack and tribute album tracks—and they give the album its name. For the first time in a while, though, Waits doesn’t sound caught up in the business of being Tom Waits, and the album’s a joy for it.

 

Orphans is divided into three discs, “Brawlers,” “Bawlers” and “Bastards,” and the remarkable thing is how listenable each disc is. The sentimental, prettier songs on “Bawlers” are the closest to sounding like too much of a similar thing, but the disc stays entertaining and lovely for its hour-plus running length. “Brawlers” is Waits at his throat-clearing finest, but it’s also a CD that boogies and rocks, showing an affection for Stones grooves and rockabilly swing rarely revealed in the past.

 

It’s hard to imagine Waits’ influence shows up in any city like it does in New Orleans, where the stumblebum romantic with a secret love of piano blues and haunting melodies is a resonant, achievable image. More than that, Waits is the unelected mayor of the Ninth Ward for the theatrical nature of his music, something embedded in the fabric of many Ninth Ward bands. That element is here in the general sense—the thematic organization, the calliope you can hear in his songs, whether it’s there or not—but the songs always feel like musical creations first and foremost. Because of that, Orphans is a clear statement of the breadth of Tom Waits’ musical talents without simplifying or underselling any of them.