Like many people of a certain age, the first I heard of Mark Lanegan was Nearly Lost You, Screaming Trees 1992 song that ended up on the soundtrack of Singles (this is their network TV debut on the Letterman Show - ace but slightly unsettling due to the fact they seem to have OJ Simpson playing drums for them). Since then he's released solo albums, had stints with Queens of the Stone Age, teamed up somewhat incongruously with former Belle & Sebastian chanteuse Isobel Campbell and has now pitched up with English production team Soulsavers and their third album, Broken.
With every album and project he's embarked on, Lanegan's voice has seemed to sink deeper into the past and on Broken he sounds as if he's broadcasting from some antidiluvian radio station with the weight of foreknowledge bearing down hard on his soul. Due to my excitement and anticipation I made the mistake of listening to Broken on my way into work this morning. It's not a morning album. Hell, I'm writing this at 10pm with a glass of wine, the only light in the room is a small lamp and the glow from my laptop but it still feels I'm listening to this record at least four or five hours before I should. Tracks like instrumental opener The Seventh Proof, Palace Brothers' cover You Will Miss Me When I Burn and Pharoah's Chariot sound as if they should be filed alongside Closing Time or The Boatman's Call - melancholic slow marches to soundtrack the longest and darkest nights.
It's not all about Mark Lanegan though. Australian singer/songwriter Red Ghost takes lead vocals on epic album closer By My Side, duets with Lanegan on Rolling Sky and provides backing on You Will Miss Me When I Burn. Her vocals bring a different texture to Lanegan's but fit the tone of the album perfectly. Hopefully this cameo will give her the exposure she clearly merits (her cover of King of Leon's Molly's Chambers needs to be heard by anyone who gives two fucks about music).
Broken isn't perfect - Death Bells sounds like something Screaming Trees might've knocked off during a fag break in the early 90s - but fans of any of Mark Lanegan's past projects will find plenty to keep them going here. Just don't try using it to gee the troops.
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