For one of the more pivotal figures in modern rock n roll, the talents of Mark Lanegan remain largely unsung. From being a leading light of Sup Pop's grunge generation with the Screaming Trees to releasing a string of critically acclaimed solo albums he's also worked as hired hand for The Twilight Singers, Queens Of The Stone Age and PJ Harvey.
In short, Lanegan is something of an influential fella. Without his guidance, it's unlikely Kurt Cobain would have delivered that throat-shredding rendition of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" on MTV Unplugged. (The Nirvana frontman - a close friend at the time – provided backing vocals on the same Leadbelly lament when Lanegan covered it on his debut solo album, "The Winding Sheet", back in 1992.)
Yet "Bubblegum" is titled very much as a collective effort - like some classic Western where Lanegan has entered town for a debt-collecting mission and everyone he's ever rode with is called up to repay a favour. Consequently, he's joined on these 15 tracks by the unlikely roll call of PJ Harvey, Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri, Izzy Stradlin from Guns N' Roses and ex-Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli. Had Cobain not blown his head off he'd probably be on here too.
That it remains a coherent piece of work is primarily down to Lanegan's distinctively gravelled drawl and the sheer strength of the material. Vocally he's up there - or maybe that's down there - with Leonard Cohen or Lee Hazlewood (the half-reference to Nancy and Lee's "Jackson" in "Wedding Dress" is presumably no accident). Born under a bad sign, he's the epitome of the lone wolf crooner - guarding a bruised heart and no-good attitude with an unfiltered cigarette.
This is a hard trick to pull off without sounding like the Marlboro Man, but Lanegan is one cool f**ker whatever he attempts. Whether mixing up country or punk he approaches everything with a similar Zen-like calm - be it the boneyard Tom Waits junk vibe of the aforementioned "Wedding Dress", joyriding through Detroit circa 1970 with Polly Harvey in the passenger seat ("Hit The City") or growling the chorus to the blistering assault that is "Methamphetamine Blues". If the music rages then Lanegan just fights it with a croon.
And in "Bombed" and "Come To Me" he's written two of the year's most beautiful songs. The former, a mere sketch of a thing, still manages to distil the ghostly aura of Johnny Cash. On the latter, a creepy-crawly lullaby with Harvey again guesting, he trades erotic verses while she lures him seductively onto the rocks. It's as utterly hypnotising for the listener as it sounds like it was for the duo to record.
Whether "Bubblegum" can drag his career from the shadows is open to question, but it will undoubtedly top some end of year lists this Christmas.
Until then: beg, borrow or steal.
by Adam Webb