Veteran American rocker Mark Lanegan has announced a new album, Straight Songs of Sorrow. In anticipation of that May 8th release, Lanegan has shared the new single “Skeleton Key” and revealed dates for a UK tour.
For the follow-up to 2019’s Somebody’s Knocking, Lanegan found inspiration in another project he’d been working on: his memoir. Sing Backwards and Weep will be published on April 28th, and as Lanegan explained in a statement, the process of digging up old memories pushed him back into the studio.
“Writing the book, I didn’t get catharsis. All I got was a Pandora’s box full of pain and misery. I went way in, and remembered shit I’d put away 20 years ago. But I started writing these songs the minute I was done, and I realized there was a depth of emotion because they were all linked to memories from this book. It was a relief to suddenly go back to music. Then I realized that was the gift of the book: these songs. I’m really proud of this record.”
Whichever recollections “Skeleton Key” is evoking, it certainly lives up to the album title. Over seven minutes of droning guitars and skittering, anxious percussion, Lanegan sings of loss and suffering. “I spent my life/ Trying every way to die/ Is it my fate to be the last one standing?” Stream it below.
Straight Songs of Sorrow, due out via Bella Union, is up for pre-order now. The memoir Sing Backwards and Weep arrives April 28th via Da Capo Press and is also available for pre-order.
Lanegan will be promoting his new record with a short run of UK tour dates in May. Afterwards, he’ll continue on to a previously-announced trek through France and Italy. Check out the full list of concerts below, and get your tickets here.
Mark Lanegan 2020 Tour Dates:
05/12 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
05/13 – Cardiff, UK 2 Tramshed
05/14 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
05/15 – Glasgow, UK @ Garage
05/17 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory
05/18 – Norwich, UK @ Waterfront
05/19 – Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy
05/23 – Metz, FR @ Les Trinitaires
05/24 – Strasbourg, FR @ Laiterie
05/25 – Angoulême, FR @ La Nef
05/27 – Feyzin, FR @ L’EPICERIE MODERNE
05/30 – Bologna, IT @ Teatro Manzoni di Bologna
Straight Songs of Sorrow Artwork:
Straight Songs of Sorrow Tracklist:
01. I Wouldn’t Want To Say
02. Apples From A Tree
03. This Game Of Love
04. Ketamine
05. Bleed All Over
06. Churchbells, Ghosts
07. Internal Hourglass Discussion
08. Stockholm City Blues
09. Skeleton Key
10. Daylight In The Nocturnal House
11. Ballad of the Dying Rover
12. Hanging On (For DRC)
14. At Zero Below
Mark Lanegan Announces New Album Straight Songs of Sorrow, shares “Skeleton Key”: Stream
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