MARK LANEGAN Vinyl & CDs

Review: Where would you be without Mark Lanegan? Where would any of us be without Mark Lanegan? Scratch and don't answer that - responses probably depend on personal experiences. Nevertheless, the man once most commonly known as the guy from Screaming Trees is nothing short of vital - incredible songwriter and top drawer musician, with his second album in under six months more than enough evidence to back those claims. In many ways 'Straight Songs Of Sorrow' is an amalgamation of all the artist has done and been before solo, which is saying something given this is studio LP number 12. Lyrically a testament to some of his darkest hours gone by, elements of early, rawer outings are more than audible, with lashings of the synth stuff that has typified later material acting as a counterbalance. Delicate acoustic and string workouts, shades of DNTEL, twisted organ cries and soul searching, dark, alternative rock moods.