From Gutter Twins, his dark rock project with Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli, to Sunday at Dirt Devil, his breezy new country album with Belle and Sebastian’s Isobel Campbell, Mark Lanegan stays busy and, above all, eclectic.
But with Broken, the Seattle-bred rocker’s second album in two years with Soulsavers — a.k.a. Brit production duo Rich Machin and Ian Glover — Lanegan’s voice has found its soul mate: a poignant, sexy, and menacing mix of down tempo drum and bass, electronic noises, and guitar. Below, download one of the album’s best songs, “Death Bells,” featuring backing vocals from acid cowboy / Butthole Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes.
Like the remainder of the album, “Death Bells” is a pleasing stylistic departure from Lanegan’s grittier, more popular work with Screaming Trees and Gutter Twins. He says this is because he shares Machin and Glover’s eclectic musical influences: “Son House, Nina Simone, Bobby Bland, Roky Erickson, John Cale, Paul Rodgers, George Jones, Andy Williams, Tim Buckley, Terry Callier, and many, many more.” (Andy Williams?)
Soulsavers kicked off their U.S. tour behind Broken last weekend in Portland, OR. Read SPIN’s review here.
LISTEN: Soulsavers, “Death Bells”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
