Mark Lanegan - Straight Songs Of Sorrow Album Review
Mark Lanegan's prolific output shows no signs of abating as he releases his second album in less than seven months. 'Straight Songs Of Sorrow' follows last year's release 'Somebody's Knocking' and is inspired by his own life and his memoir 'Sing Backwards And Weep' (if this is what he's capable of without being on lockdown then God only knows what's to come in the near future). Lanegan's book, containing detailed and frank recollections of his troubled and eventful life, did not bring the catharsis he was hoping for but it did 'gift' him these songs and he says, "I'm really proud of this record."

Lanegan's fifteen new tracks serve to further document his extraordinary life and in so doing also, quite coincidentally, give a helicopter view of his musical output. There is Alt-Folk to full blown Electronica as well as a signature duet or two along the way. Helping deliver Lanegan's autobiographical vision are, amongst others, Portishead's Adrian Uttley, Ed Harcourt, Bad Seed Warren Ellis, Led Zep's John Paul Jones and Lanegan's wife Shelley Brien.
The album's opening track 'I Wouldn't Want To Say' follows on from 'Somebody's Knocking' with a clear connection through its electronic composition and perfectly sums up Lanegan's life in one lyric: "Swinging from death, from death to revival". That's not to say that this album is overtly dark or in any way depressing, quite the opposite; it is full of positivity and hope. The string-laden soft beat of 'This Game Of Love' has to be one of the best tracks Lanegan has ever written and sung. The duet, with his wife Shelley Brien, is a genuine thing of real beauty. The layered harmonies sit beside each other so sweetly that they make an irresistible combination. The song is about Lanegan's failure up until meeting his wife, in love, having had every girlfriend he's ever had walk out on him. He and his wife sing this song together so symbiotically, affirming that many things are greater than the sum of their parts. Lanegan has done this before, most notably with Isobel Campbell, so he's no stranger to this territory, but here he has excelled himself: "Don't make me burn like this, I know the art of loneliness, free my soul of emptiness, pull me from the fire."
Continue reading: Mark Lanegan - Straight Songs Of Sorrow Album Review