This Friday, July 15, Johnny Depp is releasing a record with legendary guitarist Jeff Beck, European tour in the key. The actor, with this change of scenery, tries to offer another image than that of the recent trial-unpacking with his ex-wife Amber Heard. The project, 18, is mostly made up of covers. This opus will not remain as a major piece in the repertoire of the monument Jeff Beck (member of the Yardbirds, accompanist of David Bowie, etc …), 78 years old since June.
The set is presented well disjointed. If the duo makes it on Insulation (John Lennon), the What’s going on by Marvin Gaye becomes a pretext for a solo stroll by the English guitarist, while the actor’s voice does not reach the depth of the original. the Venus in furs from the Velvet Underground is treated with a tinge of garish industrial rock, again with the muffled voice of the 59-year-old actor far from the initial spiciness.
Obviously, as the lyrics deal with sado-masochism, some will see it as a funny choice after the ultra-mediatized trial in the United States between Depp and his former partner, actress Amber Heard (Aquaman). The lyrics of This is a song for Miss Hedy Lamarr, one of the two original songs composed by Johnny Depp, already released as a single, are causing a lot of ink to flow. The actor of the series Pirates of the Caribbean sings there that he does not believe “more in humans” and describes a woman “erased by the same world that made her a star”.
Depp was suing his ex-wife for defamation, who had described herself in a press op-ed as “a public figure representing domestic violence”, without naming her former husband. He was asking for $50 million in damages, she was asking for double that. After six weeks of hearings, the jurors concluded on June 1 that the ex-spouses had defamed each other. But they awarded more than $10 million to Depp, compared to only $2 million to Amber Heard.
Rock is not new in the life of Johnny Depp. Before becoming a star with the 21 series Jump Street, he had been part of a group, the Bad Boys (now The Kids), even providing the first part of Iggy Pop, without taking off afterwards. In recent years, Depp spawned with the Hollywood Vampires, “supergroup” created with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry (Aerosmith guitarist). Beck and Depp say they met in 2016, befriending each other around “cars and guitars”. “When Johnny and I started playing together, (…) we felt like we were 18 again. So that also became the title of the album”said the guitarist.
The release of the disc was opportunely announced in the wake of the trial. And Beck invited the actor toEdward Scissorhands to join him on tour currently in Europe. It should also appear in The favorite by the Frenchwoman Maïwenn, on the relationship between Louis XV and the Countess du Barry. The filming of the film, in which he plays the monarch, is planned for this summer, notably in Versailles.