Tom Jones doesn’t get enough credit. Older than most pop singers of the late 1960s, Jones was seen as the guy trying to connect with the young and hip crowds while appealing to a much older demographic at the same time. The fact that his concerts became known for the tossing of women’s undergarments made it hard for many music fans to take him seriously.

But Jones was always more than he seemed. His music fit right at the intersection of soul, pop, country and rock, and he was obviously in love with all of it. DVDs of his late-’60s TV variety program display his range of interests and his delight in watching other performers.

His singing was bold, brassy, defiantly machismo, and, at age 68, it still is. For this, his first new release in almost ten years, Jones hooks up with a young English production team called Future Cut. The first half-dozen songs are retro-soul club anthems that could keep the dance floor moving in sequence with Joss Stone or Amy Winehouse.

After a goofy attempt by Bono and the Edge of U2 to force Jones to tell us he’s still sexy when we’ve obviously caught on just by listening, the second half of the record is filled with deeper, more nuanced character songs. “Need”, one of many originals Jones co-wrote with his producers, is an impassioned plea to a lover moving away. On “The Hitter”, a nearly-forgotten gem from Bruce Springsteen’s 2005 album Devils & Dust, he pulls out all the stops, as Jones embodies in turn pride, regret, shame, passion, love, hope, and resignation. You can hear him feeling every emotion in this complex song, the tour de force of a man who has more music in him than most everyone thinks.

Official video for Tom Jones’ “24 Hours”