Search - Isobel Campbell, Mark Lanegan :: Ballad of the Broken Seas

A highly unusual collaboration results in a stellar album

Robert Moore | Chicago, IL USA | 11/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although I have loved a great deal of the previous work of both Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, they are two people I never would have imagined pairing for an album. Not only that, when first learning of this album, I imagined that Lanegan was the principal songwriter for the project. In fact, she wrote nearly all of the songs on the disc, though to his credit Lanegan embraces the ones upon which he sings so marvelously that he does indeed make them sound like his own. As I said, I've loved both of these performers in other projects. Campbell, of course, is the lovely, airy female voice adorning all those incredible Belle and Sebastian songs, though she also has a slightly earlier and very find solo album, AMORINO. What that album revealed was what perhaps few suspected: though taking a backseat to the outrageously gifted Stuart Murdoch (who just might have been the finest writer in all of rock the past decade) in Belle and Sebastian, she is a significant talent in her own right). Lanegan has also produced some great solo work, especially WHISKY FOR THE HOLY GHOST, but is even better known for fronting The Screaming Trees and for his work with Queens of the Stone Age. If I were to compare what these two sound like together I might compare them to Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle on the album they did together or, ever better, the duet that Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue did on his MURDER BALLADES.



The pairing of these two talents is magical. While it would be hard to hate Isobel Campbell's singing, her voice is so soft, delicate, and ethereal that it can almost feel otherworldly after a bit. Frequently she seems to be not so much singing as whispering. Lanegan's rough, coarse, raspy baritone, on the other hand, contrasts magnificently with Campbell's. The singing duties are not quite evenly divided, with Campbell seemingly content to Lanegan take lead duties, often contenting herself with singing backup on her own songs. His singing gives an edge to the songs; her singing gives them a spiritual dimension. My one complaint with the disc is that they don't sing more duets. One of my favorite songs on the disc is "(Do You Wanna) Come Walk With Me?" on which Lanegan sings to an acoustic guitar, with Campbell almost nonchalantly providing a counterpoint.



Despite Lanegan's presence and strong singing, this is very much an Isobel Campbell album. If you listen to WHISKEY FOR THE HOLY GHOST and then this one, you can't help but be struck by the enormous differences in the songwriting. The songs on both albums are equally good, but they are quite different, the ones here more easily melodious and a bit folksier. This is also just a great set of songs. It starts off strongly with "Deus Ibi Est" and then gets even stronger with "Black Mountain," with Campbell at her very finest. The best song on the disc for my money is the last cut, "The Circus is Leaving Town." Lanegan's lone writing contribution to the album is a good one, "Revolver." One of the highlights of the album, however, is one of the best covers ever of the Hank Williams's classic "Ramblin' Man." They don't cover it so much as reinterpret it, and a very good revisioning it is.



I can't imagine many Isobel Campbell fans being disappointed in this album. Some hardcore Screaming Trees or Queens of the Stone Age fans, however, might not find it to their liking (though I sincerely hope I am wrong about this). But if you just love great music in whatever form it arrives, this could well be your cup of tea."

A great surprise

alexliamw | Oxford | 10/11/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"An unlikely but extreme successful combination, Isobel Campbell's pure Scottishness married to Mark Lanegan's weathered American blues is a beautiful union. It's the swaggering, smoulderingly sexy cover of Hank Williams' 'Ramblin' Man' that immediately grabs the attention, but closer inspection reveals a wealth of treasures. The darkly understasted 'Deus Ibi Est' recalls Nick Cave and Tom Waits, and the log-cabin folk of the Lanegan-penned 'Revolver' is rhythmically interesting and has a beckoning quality. The upbeat and poppy 'Honey Child What Can I Do' is easily the closest thing to Campbell's old band Belle & Sebastian here, and ranks with some of their best offerings. There's a mystical, foggy, ethereal quality to the string-adorned 'The False Husband' and Campbell-led tracks 'Black Mountain' and 'Saturday's Gone', while the title track is spaced-out blues. Only 'Do You Wanna Come Walk With Me', a purely acoustic ditty with an incredibly simple chorus, is a little disappointing. A subtle and special record."