Blues Funeral

Ever since 2004’s Bubblegum, former Screaming Trees man Mark Lanegan has quite literally been a voice in the wilderness, a modern day bluesman drifting between other people’s projects as though afraid to pitch tent in the same place too long. He’s collaborated with Twilight Singers leader Greg Dulli, dueted with Scottish indie mistress Isobel Campbell and hooked up with Queens Of The Stone Age. Quite why it took such an interminable spell for him to get around to making another full-fledged solo record is unclear but, after eight years, his return is full of purpose. Sometimes lumped in with grunge crooners like Eddie Vedder and Scott Weiland, on Blues Funeral Lanegan demonstrates the full span of his abilities as a writer. ‘Bleeding Muddy Water’ is Nick Cave-style baroque and utterly gorgeous, ‘Harborview Hospital’ a Radiohead-esque slice of anti-pop, ‘Ode To Sad Disco’ a dark dancefloor rollicker with a crunchy synth bass, over which Lanegan and old mucker Dulli trade Bowie impersonations. Lanegan gets caricatured as a stoic mumbler who has floored several whiskeys too many. But such clichés fall away when you listen to Blues Funeral. This is a record of real beauty, grace and wonder.