Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan “Sunday At Devil Dirt” Review

The veritable oil and water combination of Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan continues to bear strange fruit with the release of their excellent second record, Sunday At Devil Dirt. The album was initially released in the UK in May, but is just now being issued in the US, with our version getting five bonus tracks as a reward for our patience. Once again, Isobel (formerly of Belle & Sebastian and The Gentle Waves) wrote the songs, penned the arrangements, and handled the production on the album, with a majority of the music being recorded in the Catskills, while the vocals were done separately in Glasgow. Both singers were in the studio at the same time during the recording, which is different from the cross-continent collaboration of their first record, the Mercury Prize nominated Ballad of the Broken Seas, which immediately gives this record a more intimate, organic feel than its predecessor.

The record starts out strongly with the haunting “Seafaring Song” (which Isobel wrote in 2007 while on tour with Mark for their first record), setting the dark underlying tone of the album straightaway, with the songs understated acoustic guitar melody blending well with the plaintive vocals of Isobel and Mark. The foreboding “The Raven” is next, and much like Poe’s nightmarish poem that obviously was an inspiration for the song, it’s tragic and dark, made even more so by Mark’s gravelly voice. The songs on this record are mostly stark and uncluttered, music wise, with the vocals and lyrics giving the tracks their meaning and intensity, while the arrangements give the songs depth and a subtle complexity. It’s an album that perhaps wouldn’t seem to work on paper, given the seemingly disparate natures of the contributors, but the record flourishes not only because of that dichotomy, but because the songs are set up to showcase the forlorn and worldly vocals of Lanegan, as well as the indelible melodies of Isobel’s arrangements.

Sunday At Devil Dirt also finds Isobel and Mark stretching the songs out quite a bit more, perhaps buoyed by the success of their first collaboration, with the album clocking in at over 68 minutes when you factor in the bonus tracks. And this space and freedom within the music really helps on tracks like “Come On Over (Turn Me On),” with its sultry nod to the songs of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, and the slow-building simmer of “Back Burner,” that forms the literal (song six of the original twelve) and figurative centerpiece of the record. The second half of the record is strengthened by the first single from the record, the gorgeously simple “Keep Me In Mind, Sweetheart,” that is drenched in loneliness and a level of emotion that most bands spend entire careers trying to create. My favorite track on the record is the elegant ballad “Trouble,” that features some of the most heartbreakingly honest vocals from Mark since the Whiskey For The Holy Ghost, days. When he sings that he “hasn’t slept a day in years” you can’t help but believe it. It’s a stunningly beautiful song, complete with lush organ work and Isobel’s lovely lilt.

For American fans who, like me, have been enjoying this record since May, the real question is how good the bonus tracks are. And, I can happily say they are a fine compliment to the original release, and add seamlessly to the overall theme and feel of the record. Isobel said that when she finally got Mark to agree to come to Glasgow to record his vocals, she purposely ran him through a lot of takes and as many songs as she had written, simply because she didn’t know when she’d ever have him back in the studio again. So, these additional songs are from the original recording sessions, and share the natural feel and sound of the original album. Standouts of the bonus cuts include the lovely, piano driven ‘”Asleep On The Sixpence,” the country tinged, acoustic ballad “Rambling Rose, Clinging Vine,” that features the truest actual duet between Isobel and Mark found on the entire record, and album closer “Hang On,” which features just Isobel on vocals over a bouncy electric guitar riff.

Part of the appeal of this collaboration between Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, other than the fine songwriting and singing found throughout their records, is how vastly different they both appear to be from each other – one is a towering, growling singer from the grunge era, the other is a diminutive blond from one of the most diaphanous groups in pop history. But somehow, the partnership works, and Isobel isn’t nearly as innocent as the media makes her out to be, with Mark bringing out her darker side on these recordings, and Mark can’t possibly be as impenetrable as he is made out to be in the press, and Isobel brings out whatever tender side he has within him through her songs. It’s a curious union, no question, but one that continues to thrive and prosper, producing yet another superb record in Sunday At Devil Dirt.

Isobel Campbell: Purchase | Facebook | MySpace | Wikipedia
Mark Lanegan: Purchase | Facebook | MySpace | Wikipedia
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