Mark Lanegan - O2 Academy, Bristol 17/01/15

Despite a fertile solo career now running well into its third decade, he’s perhaps still best known for Cobain’s patronage; the pair bonded over a mutual enthusiasm for renowned pre-war Louisiana bluesman Lead Belly, with Lanegan including a cover of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” on his debut LP The Winding Sheet. They also played together sporadically during the pre-Bleach era, and Nirvana and Screaming Trees went on to share the main stage at the 1992 Reading Festival, scene of the infamous “Kurt’s wheelchair” skit. Although major label acclaim and an improbable Britpop-era US tour with Oasis would fail to dilute, in author Michael Azerrad’s memorable phrase, Screaming Trees’ brand of “rowdy, hard-drinking aggro-psychedelia”, Lanegan’s voluminous post-ST outpust has been defined by moody, last-gunslinger-in-town ballads. He’s also successfully played his own gruff persona off against the dulcet tones of former Belle & Sebastian vocalist Isobel Campbell on a trio of well-received collaborative albums, and worked with UK production duo Soulsavers, Afghan Whigs offshoot The Twilight Singers and rambunctious SoCal outfit Queens Of The Stone Age. His latest, 2014’s Phantom Radio, is his ninth solo record overall and his third in just three years. Apparently inspired by the retro drum machine sounds of the Funkbox app, it has been described as a career-best in some quarters. A collection of dynamic, electro-flecked blues-rock steeped in its creator’s favoured Biblical imagery, these solemn parables of mortality and redemption pair Lanegan’s trademark growl with the restoration of the sound of classic Depeche Mode and New Order, spectral synth washes akin to The Cure and celestial drones a la Spiritualized. There’s still room for the menacing rockers of yore: after an opening section featuring just Lanegan and a guitarist, Phantom Radio opener “Harvest Home” is performed with gusto and a full band backing. Rake-thin and inevitably clad in head-to-toe black, Lanegan limits his audience interaction to a few hoarse words of gratitude. Seemingly, some fans would like a little more. “Speak to me, Mark!” pleads a hopeful heckler. “Have I not been speaking?” glowers the singer in response. Taciturn he may be, but as “Torn Red Heart” and a raw “Sleep With Me” rise to a gleaming epiphany, it’s the music that does the talking.