Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Who Built The Road (V2)
3/5
By: Michael Cragg
Following the success of their debut album of collaborations, 2006's Ballad of the Broken Seas, Isobel Campbell (former member of Belle & Sebastian, looks like she wouldn't hurt a fly) and Mark Lanegan (former singer with Screaming Trees, looks like he'd eat your kidneys) are back with new single 'Who Built The Road'.
The beauty of listening to their debut album was revelling in the shock at hearing their opposing vocals together, at trying to uncover how it worked quite as well as it did. Naturally that element of surprise has worn off leaving the songs to stand up for themselves, and for the most part 'Who Built The Road' is a promising start to new album Sunday at Devil Dirt. Over acoustic guitar and a typically windswept string arrangement it's Lanegan that proves the most interesting, his vocal anchoring the song whilst Campbell's light hush seems to be blown by the breeze. There's a lovely moment midway when the pair break out some perfect 'la la la's, conjuring up images of Lanegan leading Campbell in a slightly drunken waltz.
So, while it's not a giant leap from their debut, 'Who Built The Road' is a likeable enough addition, but somehow the juxtaposition between menace and innocence so redolent on their debut has been lost slightly. Let's put it this way, after listening to it for about the fifth time I had a strange urge to put on Nick Cave's duet with Kylie to hear what it should sound like.
Artists in this article: Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
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