Darkness seems to be Mark Lanegan's calling card. The former Screaming Trees frontman has had his troubles, but has some how managed to escape the grasp of the reaper unlike some of his Seattle based contemporaries. After the dissolution of his band, Lanegan was able to launch a successful second act with a strong solo career and numerous collaborations. After releasing 2004's bleak but brilliant Bubblegum, he went on the road with Queens Of The Stone Age and Soulsavers. Along with the time on the road Lanegan released three remarkable yet unexpected albums with former Belle & Sebastian singer and cellist Isobel Campbell. Blues Funeral sees the grizzled rocker return to the center of things, bringing along a world of experience and tales from the dark places in his past. Former Queens Of The Stone Age sideman Alain Johannes handles production duties, proving to be an expert guide for the territory that Lanegan will traverse. The two take pieces of Nick Drake's Grinderman, krautrock, a little U2 and even some 80s pop to produce an album that is as varied as it is dark. For blues drenched guitar lick and dirge like passage there's the sense that Lanegan is in perpetual search of a sense of salvation he'll never find. This is gloomy and leaden material that's not for the faint of heart.

• grey marble vinyl pressing
• includes download
• music label: 4AD 2012

reviewed by Dark & Stormy 04/2015