Album Review: Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - Black Pudding
- Written by Dominic Allen
This collaboration between Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood is a bit of a head-scratcher. Potentially this stems from this being the first such project where Lanegan has been the main attraction rather than in an equal or supporting roll. After multiple listens this reviewer cannot quite decide if this is, as the man himself declares, the best piece of work that Lanegan has done or if it is Lanegan having a bit of a breather after the emotional exertions of his happy album Blues Funeral.
His hook-up with the Archie Bronson Outfit’s Duke Garwood is not as obviously balanced as previous joint efforts such as the Soulsavers, his work with Isobel Campbell, the Gutter Twins or Queens of the Stone Age. This partnership is more stripped down than other similar productions and is, in some ways, less accessible. There are some stand out moments such as 'Pentecostal', 'War Memorial', 'Mescalito' and 'Driver' while the Garwood instrumental bookends see the guitarist melding flamenco and the gothic ragtime of John Fahey and Leo Kottke in a distinctive fashion. There are also some incongruously welcome tunes such as the country funk groove of 'Cold Molly'. However, too many of the songs have the potential to come across as being incomplete or sound like they could be Soulsavers and Sweet Oblivion era-Screaming Trees demos and outtakes. Not that this is a bad thing in any way it's just that the album doesn't sound complete or fully realised as a result.
This album is not stylistically a great-leap forward for Lanegan and will not, unlike the QOTSA albums, win him any new fans although it should sate existing ones for the time being. This is more likely to introduce Duke Garwood to a larger audience if anything. Lyrically Lanegan’s mining the same seams that he’s been dealing with for the last three decades so death, drugs and loss are prominent themes. While this is old territory for Lanegan he does it so well that there is no need for him to change approach.
Overall the album has a sparse, atmospheric, and delicate beauty but it's probably more charming than brilliant. There is no way that this album could be considered a mistake by either artist and is definitely well worth a listen but Black Pudding does just appear to be a touch unbalanced. Basically, this is Lanegan doing what Lanegan does best yet it can come across as being an unfinished article.
Black Pudding is released on May 13, 2013 and available from amazon