Album review: Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, 'Hawk'
3 stars (out of 4)
Isobel Campbell (formerly of Scottish pop purveyors Belle and Sebastian) and Mark Lanegan (ex-Screaming Trees front man) are the 21st Century answer to classic beauty-and-beast duos such as Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood or Jane Birkin and Serge Gainesbourg. Only in this collaboration, it’s the woman who’s the creative guiding force, with Campbell writing, arranging and producing for Lanegan’s brooding baritone.
Previous Campbell-Lanegan projects focused on the contrasts between the two voices: Her vocal tone as insinuating as a soft breath tickling the neck, Lanegan’s voice suggesting a tumbler of perfectly aged whiskey. They addressed dark, low-key material centered on fractured adult relationships and steeped in atmospheric blues, country and folk.
It’s a rich, insinuating sound, and there’s plenty more of it on “Hawk” (Vanguard). But there are also several twists that make this much more than just a rehash of a proven formula. Campbell cedes the foreground to Lanegan’s voice (plus two fine tracks featuring Willy Mason). She lurks in the margins, adding shade and ghost-like harmonies as needed. Campbell also gives the beats a bit more oomph. “Get Behind Me” kicks up some roadhouse dust, “Lately” brings in some gospelized affirmation, and the instrumental title track screams into free-jazz overload. Best of all, “Come Undone” delivers the type of orchestrated soul-ballad drama that once might’ve had James Brown dropping to one knee, pleading for deliverance.
greg@gregkot.com
Isobel Campbell (formerly of Scottish pop purveyors Belle and Sebastian) and Mark Lanegan (ex-Screaming Trees front man) are the 21st Century answer to classic beauty-and-beast duos such as Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood or Jane Birkin and Serge Gainesbourg. Only in this collaboration, it’s the woman who’s the creative guiding force, with Campbell writing, arranging and producing for Lanegan’s brooding baritone.
Previous Campbell-Lanegan projects focused on the contrasts between the two voices: Her vocal tone as insinuating as a soft breath tickling the neck, Lanegan’s voice suggesting a tumbler of perfectly aged whiskey. They addressed dark, low-key material centered on fractured adult relationships and steeped in atmospheric blues, country and folk.
It’s a rich, insinuating sound, and there’s plenty more of it on “Hawk” (Vanguard). But there are also several twists that make this much more than just a rehash of a proven formula. Campbell cedes the foreground to Lanegan’s voice (plus two fine tracks featuring Willy Mason). She lurks in the margins, adding shade and ghost-like harmonies as needed. Campbell also gives the beats a bit more oomph. “Get Behind Me” kicks up some roadhouse dust, “Lately” brings in some gospelized affirmation, and the instrumental title track screams into free-jazz overload. Best of all, “Come Undone” delivers the type of orchestrated soul-ballad drama that once might’ve had James Brown dropping to one knee, pleading for deliverance.
greg@gregkot.com