From the first moment I heard The Screaming Trees I recognized Mark Lanegan as an exceptional singer. What I could never imagine was how far away he'd stray from The Trees' neo-psychedelic hard rock. Apart from his own records, he has proven an excellent interpreter of others' songs and a valuable collaborator to artists as diverse as Queens of the Stone Age, Isobel Campbell and (the Afghan Whig's) Greg Dulli. This is his second all-covers album and this time he chose to include some easy-listening standards as tribute to his first musical influences (meaning his parents' record collection). He opens nevertheless with a contemporary song. Chelsea Wolfe's "Flatlands" is a stark proposition, just voice and acoustic guitar, until the arrival of a cello mid-song which immediately elevates the song. James Bond theme “You Only Live Twice" (a puzzling choice) is given an acoustic folk treatment, same as the old standard "Mack The Knife". Both are unrecognizable, albeit only the latter in a good way. The jazzy finger-picking guitar and Lanegan's smoky voice and understated delivery prove an unexpectedly good fit for an over-familiar song. Another jazz standard "Autumn Leaves" gets a more conventional approach and is a romantic and melancholic triumph. He also delivers a warm and rich version of "Solitaire" and even has the audacity of taking on Frank Sinatra in "Pretty Colors" and the outcome is, unbelievably, a tie (I guess it depends on taste)."Élégie funèbre" is a risky choice and his French is not convincing (he reminds me of Iggy's "Après"), but at least it introduced me to the music of Gérard Manset. Lastly, the album's leading track is John Cale's “I’m Not The Loving Kind”. I'm not familiar with the original, but the version here is great, with dramatic strings and a world-weary melancholic delivery.
**** for Flatlands (Chelsea Wolfe), Pretty Colors (Frank Sinatra) Solitaire (Neil Sedaka/Andy Williams), Autumn Leaves (Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert/Johnny Mercer)
*** for Deepest Shade (Greg Dulli/The Twilight Singers) Brompton Oratory (Nick Cave), Lonely Street (Andy Williams), I'm Not the Loving Kind (John Cale), Mack the Knife (Brecht/Weill), Élégie funèbre (Gérard Manset)
** for "She's Gone (Vern Gosdin) and You Only Live Twice (John Barry/Nancy Sinatra)
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