DAVID BOWIE - DAVID BOWIE SAYS SCARLETT JOHANSSON'S ALBUM IS "MYSTICAL"

DAVID BOWIE SAYS SCARLETT JOHANSSON'S ALBUM IS "MYSTICAL"

Rock legend David Bowie has paid tribute to actress Scarlett Johansson ahead of the release of her debut album.

The Ziggy Stardust star added backing vocals to two tracks on Anywhere I Lay My Head, a collection of Tom Waits covers.

And writing on his official website, Bowie has rebutted media criticism of the Lost in Translation starlet's attempts to re-record songs by an artist as respected as Waits.

"The songs are great, really good Tom Waits stuff, and Scarlett's performances are mystical and twice cool," he wrote.

"She creates a mood that could have been summoned by someone like Margery Latimer or Jeanette Winterson."

Bowie sings on Falling Down and Fannin' Street, but added that his involvement was fairly minimal.

"I've seen the press on this and I suppose the record company wanted to spin my involvement a little more than it actually warrants. All I contribute are these oo's and ah's on a couple of tracks."

Johansson, 23, told reporters earlier this month that she'd chosen to cover gravelly-voiced Waits because "his melodies are so beautiful and his voice is so distinct".

"I sent him some of the early, early recordings, and he said: 'Go ahead,'" she added.

"I've heard he's very pleased," she added.

Johansson - whose new film The Other Boleyn Girl opens in the UK on March 7th - was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying she learned she was "a sexual being" through listening to Bowie's songs.