{ { Infobox album
| name = Surrounded by Time
| type = studio
| artist = Tom Jones
| cover = Tom Jones - Surrounded by Time cover art.png
| alt =
| released =
| recorded = 2019 – March 2020
| studio =
Monnow Valley (Rockfield, Wales) Real World (Box, Wiltshire) | genre = Art rock experimental rock electronica folk rock soul | length = 61:43 | label = EMI S-Curve | producer = Ethan Johns | prev_title = Long Lost Suitcase | prev_year = 2015 | next_title = | next_year = | misc = { { Singles | name = Surrounded by Time (The Hourglass Edition) | type = studio | single1 = Not Dark Yet | single1date = 19 October 2021 }} }}Surrounded by Time is the 41st studio album by Welsh singer Tom Jones, released on 23 April 2021 through EMI Records internationally and S-Curve Records in the United States. It is Jones' fourth covers album to be produced by Ethan Johns, whom he has worked with since 2009. It was supported by the singles "Talking Reality Television Blues", "No Hole in My Head", "One More Cup of Coffee", and "Pop Star". The album received positive reviews from critics, with much praise being directed towards Jones' vocals at 80 years of age as well as the selection of songs for the album. It debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, making Jones the oldest male to earn a number-one UK album, and charted within the top 25 in five other countries.
Background
Tom Jones began working with record producer Ethan Johns, who had worked with acts such as Kings of Leon, Joe Cocker, and Crowded House, in 2009. Johns had told Island Records that he wanted to work with Jones the most, and the label eventually brought the two together. Their first album together, Praise & Blame (2010), consisted of cover versions of gospel songs to the tune of American roots music. They recorded a follow-up album of more gospel covers, Spirit in the Room, which was released in 2012. In the same year, Jones joined The Voice UK as one of the show's first four vocal coaches. Jones and Johns later recorded their third album together, Long Lost Suitcase, and released it in 2015.
While on his tour supporting Long Lost Suitcase, Jones' wife Linda Rose Woodward was diagnosed with cancer, causing Jones to cancel his tour dates for the foreseeable future. Woodward eventually died from the cancer in April 2016. Afterward, Jones followed Woodward's advice and sold their Los Angeles mansion, subsequently moving to a flat in London. Prior to her death, Woodward encouraged Jones to continue recording and performing music after her passing. Jones recalled in a 2021 interview with HMV that he was originally unable to perform following her death, saying that "I didn’t know if I could sing. When you get too emotional, your voice doesn't work ... It knocked me completely off balance".
Recording
After Jones had recovered from his wife's passing, he resumed touring and continued for a few years. He gathered his son, Mark Woodward, along with Johns and a group of session musicians to begin recording a new album in 2019. They recorded the album into 2020 with Jones finishing the last of the album's vocals immediately prior to the beginning of a lockdown caused by the increased severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The album was primarily recorded at Monnow Valley Studio in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, marking the first time that Jones had recorded music in his home country of Wales, and Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire. Additional recording took place at Johns' Three Crows East studio in Wiltshire and the Bert Jansch Studio in Frome. The Bert Jansch Studio was also where the album was mixed. The recording sessions saw changes in the way some songs were originally planned to turn out; "I'm Growing Old" eventually turned out to be only Jones accompanied by a piano player and "Ol' Mother Earth" was done in a spoken word manner as opposed to being sung. Similar to most of Jones' past songs, "This Is the Sea" was completed in one take.