Description
Label Review.
2020 album also available on Vinyl.
Our Overview.
Featuring guest appearances from Greg Dulli, Warren Ellis, John Paul Jones, Ed Harcourt and more, Mark Lanegan’s new solo album ’Straight Songs Of Sorrow’ - which is closely aligned to his forthcoming memoir - is a swift follow-up to last year’s Somebody’s Knocking’.
When considering any great work of art, it’s natural to wonder what might have inspired it: ‘the story behind the song’. Mark Lanegan’s new album, ‘Straight Songs Of Sorrow’, flips that equation. Here are 15 songs inspired by a story: his life story, as documented by his own hand in his new memoir, ‘Sing Backwards And Weep’.
The book is a brutal, nerve-shredding read, thanks to Lanegan’s unsparing candour in recounting a journey from troubled youth in eastern Washington, through his drug-stained existence amid the ’90s Seattle rock scene, to an unlikely salvation at the dawn of the 21st century. There’s death and tragedy, yet also humour and hope, thanks to the tenacity which impels its host, even at his lowest moments.
‘Straight Songs Of Sorrow’ combines musical trace elements from early Mark Lanegan albums with the synthesised constructs of later work. The album feels both definitive and unique, a culmination of its creator’s arc yet also indicative of the energy that drives him onto future horizons. No wonder Lanegan is proud.
“Writing the book, I didn’t get catharsis,” says Lanegan. “All I got was a Pandora’s box full of pain and misery. I went way in, and remembered shit I’d put away 20 years ago. But I started writing these songs the minute I was done, and I realised there was a depth of emotion because they were all linked to memories from this book. It was a relief to suddenly go back to music. Then I realised that was the gift of the book: these songs. I’m really proud of this record.”
As well as the musicians mentioned above, ‘Straight Songs Of Sorrow’ also features Portishead’s Adrian Utley, Simon Bonney of Crime & The City Solution and Mark’s wife Shelley Brien, who co-writes two songs as well as duetting on the ballad “This Game Of Love”. “Let’s put it this way,” says Lanegan. “Every girlfriend I’ve ever had, for any amount of time, left me. All the good ones left me! Until my current wife. It was great to sing that with Shelley, it really shows she’s a great singer. And it has a depth of emotion that I’m not used to. This is a more honest record than I’ve probably ever made.”
Tracklisting: I Wouldn't Want To Say / Apples From A Tree / This Game of Love / Ketamine / Bleed All Over / Churchbells, Ghosts / Internal Hourglass / Discussion / Stockholm City Blues / Skeleton Key / Daylight In The / Nocturnal House / Ballad of A Dying Rover / Hanging On (For DRC) / Burying Ground / At Zero Below / Eden Lost And Found