Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan 'Keep Me In Mind Sweetheart'

One could say that Isobel Campbell's record company are finally putting some effort into giving her career the promotion it deserves. Her second album with Mark Lanegan 'Sunday At Devil Dirt' was only released in May, yet last month we had a totally un-necessary re-release with a live bonus disc (and a version of 'Sand' that made it hard to resist) and now we have a new EP of songs from the album's sessions that didn't make the cut.

Far from being a pre-Christmas cash-in though, this EP is a revelation and well worth a fiver of anyone's money. 'Sunday At Devil Dirt' combined some dust ballads with less successful attempts at blues and soul, this EP focuses on the former, with stripped down, simple arrangements that best suit Lanegan's marvellous baritone.

'Keep Me In Mind..', the only track here to appear on the album, is a lovely, gentle ballad but is bested by 'Asleep On A Sunbeam' a woozy lullaby that sounds a lot like a Christmas Carol that I can't quite place. 'Fight Fire With Fire' is great too, a description of the fine line between love and hate that humourously namechecks several dodgy 1980s heavy metal albums. Elsewhere 'Violin Tango' does what it says on the tin, 'Rambling Rose, Clinging Vine' is a country standard and 'Hang On' is a pretty ballad, sung by Campbell who is sounding stronger on vocals with every record she records.

Much of this EP is as good as or better that the material on 'Sunday At Devil Dirt'. The six songs fit together well so there was obviously a grand plan behind leaving them off the album. This is a really warm sounding record with lots of piano, acoustic guitar and of course Mark Lanegan's voice. No song mentions Christmas or has anything to do with the festive season, but it all feels strangely seasonal.

****

['Keep Me In Mind Sweetheart' is out now on V2]

albums of the year...

between now and Christmas, T&G will count down our top 20 albums of the year. Before I start, I should mention the 'disappointment of the year'. If anyone had told me on January 1st that a new Hold Steady album wouldn't make this top 20, I wouldn't have believed it, but 'Stay Positive' didn't make the 20. The problems with the record just show themselves more and more as you continue listening, the rushed feel, the ugly production and the '...kitchen sink' mastering. Very, very disappointing and I notice that even the monthly music mags are now retreating slightly from their initial, hysterically positive reviews. Anyway, here's the first few from the T&G Top 20....

20- Willard Grant Conspiracy 'Regard The End'

A sombre, majestic, return to form from Robert Fisher and co.

19- Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan 'Sunday at Devil Dirt'

Mixing blues, folk and alt.country, this was a consistent collection of songs, some of which (like the supreme 'Trouble') already sound like standards.

18- She and Him 'Volume One'

Collaboration between M Ward and Zooey Deschanel. When it was good, it was a joyful, Spector-ish heaven! The 60s girl band style stuff sounded stunning and it was only held back from greatness by the slighly predictable country ballads.

15-17 coming up in the next couple of days. 'Film of the Year', 'Single of the Year', 'Reissue of the Year', 'Shop of the Year' and other such stuff coming all through December.

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan 'Sunday At Devil Dirt'

Campbell and Lanegan first collaborated on 2006's 'Ballad of the Broken Seas', written by Campbell seemingly as a tribute to the Nancy and Lee records. It worked well but lacked the humour and spark that Sinatra and Hazelwood managed, perhaps because it was recorded separately with Lanegan singing his parts in LA and Campbell in Glasgow. After touring the album and striking up an unlikely friendship, they are back with a new record, again written and arranged by Campbell.

This time she seems to have scrapped the idea of an album of duets with most of the songs sung mainly by Lanegan with Isobel providing backing vocals and harmonies. The songs are arranged with the same dusty alt.country sound of it's predecessor with effective use of strings and brass making some songs sound like genuine 60s standards.

The opening few songs are sung by Lanegan in his gruff Hazelwood/Cave voice and were clearly written by Campbell with him in mind, both as the singer and the subject of the song. 'Who Built The Road' and 'Come On Over' utilise Campbell's voice more, the latter in particular is a breezy duet with some real chemistry in evidence between the two singers. From there the record suffers from a mini-slump, at precisely the moment that it tries to stray from it's formula. 'Back Burner' is an attempt at soul, but is messy and too long, the gospel choir sounding out of sync with the stripped down feel of the record as a whole. 'Shotgun Blues' sung by Campbell in a voice that seems to be attempting 'sultry' in the style of Hope Sandoval doesn't really work either.

Happily, the closing four songs see the pair do what they do best, straight-forward, well arranged country style ballads. Both 'Keep Me In Mind Sweetheart' and 'Trouble' sound like standards and I had to check the inlay to make sure they weren't covers. The latter is the album's highlight, Mark and Isobel harmonise beautifully and Campbell's confident arrangement allows plenty of space for the strings to flourish. The closing 'Sally Don't You Cry' is equally effective, using Lanagan's voice and a mellow acoustic guitar well.

This is a very different album to 'Ballad of the Broken Seas' and probably a better one. Campbell has done a magnificent job of writing perfect songs for Lanegan's voice and the laid-back dusty arrangements make for a perfect lazy Summer Sunday listen. Were it not for the brief and ill advised excursion mid-album, this would score even higher.

8.5

'Sunday at Devil Dirt' is out now on V2, Campbell and Lanegan tour (together!) in June.