Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
Hawk

THE REVIEW

It hasn't been out for long, but it doesn't seem like many people are talking about it. As subdued as it is, it couldn't possibly provoke much of a stir.

It's a common opinion that Lanegan is wasting his talent with various collaborations and duets. I think instead that he feels good this way. I care about him. If he feels good, then so do I.

It’s also a common opinion that Isobel Campbell, better known as the female voice of Belle & Sebastian, is quite a nuisance. A mainly female opinion, obviously. Always teasing this man (who, by the way, has his girlfriend and lives in LA, living a good life now that he's finally put his rock 'n' roll past behind him), that is distracting him from his talent as a deep and tormented macho man.

But no. In my opinion, songs like "You Won't Let Me Down Again", "We Die And See Beauty Reign", "Eyes of Green" - where Mark and Isobel duet - denote such a union of intent, a friendly ease, a melodic and poetic flow that testify, indeed reiterate, a simple feeling that binds us all in the end: the passion for music. Do you think that's trivial?

Yet these are simple songs, timeless, without genre. But moving. Like the solo tracks. How could one remain indifferent when listening to a track like "Sunrise"?

Then there's "To Hell & Back Again", in my humble opinion the standout piece of the set. Just the title itself is enough to get the hint. Judge for yourself, dear reader.

I'll stop here. Just the pleasure of listening.
And no prejudices based on the past that was, or the future that might be.
Right?