Track Listing

1. Deus Ibi Est
2. Black Mountain
3. The False Husband
4. Ballad Of The Broken Seas
5. Revolver
6. Ramblin' Man
7. (Do You Wanna) Come Walk With Me?
8. Saturday's Gone
9. It's Hard To Kill A Bad Thing
10. Honey Child What Can I Do?
11. Dusty Wreath
12. The Circus Is Leaving Town

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1325 in Music
• Released on: 2006-01-30
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
At first glance, it’s a bizarre pairing: Isobel Campbell, formerly of Scots twee-popstrels Belle and Sebastian, and Mark Lanegan, the giant redwood who towered at the microphone of Seattle’s Americana demi-legends Screaming Trees. But on Ballad Of The Broken Seas, we see not only many points of conciliation between these two diverse vocalists, but learn a little more about each in the process. Lanegan’s last few albums have been dour, zombified affairs, but on "(Do You Wanna) Come Walk With Me" his rich, lightning-scarred vocal sounds warm, revitalised--romantic, even.

Campbell, meanwhile, is anything but a wallflower: it’s her understated, siren-like vocals that define numbers like "The False Husband" and "Black Mountain", fragile, tremulous but exquisitely orchestrated numbers that hark back to classic British folk touchstones like Vashti Bunyan and Nick Drake. Most importantly, however, when they sing together, there’s genuine chemistry: see the magical "Revolver" or a cover of Hank Williams’ "Ramblin’ Man", which mark out Lanegan and Campbell as something of a Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra for the modern freak-folk set. --Louis Pattison

CD Description
'Ballad Of The Broken Seas' is the debut album from former Belle & Sebastian member Isobel Campbell and former Screaming Trees and Queens Of The Stone Age lead singer Mark Lanegan. Recorded in Glasgow and Los Angeles, the album mixes indie-folk and blues with Campbell's sweet vocals complementing Lanegan's harsh voice. The limited edition single, a cover ofHank Williams' 'Ramblin' Man', is also included.

Customer Reviews

La Belle et la Bete
Who would have expected it in 2006 Belle & Sebastian and ex-member of Belle & Sebastian Isobel Campbell both release albums and the one that grabs most attention is Campbell's. This girl used to be written off as twee but there's nothing twee about this record. From the cover photos and through the songs Isobel twists and plays with the normal preconceptions of male-female roles in music and relationships. Her unexpected partner for this project Lanegan sounds like a younger and sexier Tom Waits and allows Isobel to call the shots and pull the strings.
Okay you can say it's all just an imitation of Nancy & Lee and be cynical if you want but it goes somewhere else. It succeeds where Nick Cave and Kylie's bad Nancy & Lee pastiche failed because the songs are good enough and there's something new here. It's a darker and dirtier take on what Hazelwood did with Sinatra.
Isobel's take on Hank Williams's Ramblin' Man is up there with the best and most unexpected versions of the king of country's songs. If you want a cute little summer day record this is not for you but if you want a record that is darkly sexy, inventive and unexpected you should grab hold of it.

And a Mercury Nomination to go with that please.
Isobel Campbell has presented a selection of songs that echo of open plains and small town mentality and has teamed up Mark Lanegan to deliver them like this years Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons. The songs range from catchy sing-a-long of true alt-country in Ramblin Man and (Do you Wanna) Come Walk with me to the delicate wordplay and melody of Honey Child. Lanegan's vocals are every bit as vital as Rain Dogs era Tom Waits whose influences are also heard in the production of some of the songs. This wide landscape provides the perfect spoil to the urban life obsessesives of 2006 a'la Lilly Allen and the Arctic Monkeys but stands tall on the quality of musicianship and apparent bond between the two protaginists. This is a record that you'll be playing to your grand children.

This one will last
I'm not as keen on reviewing music - it really is a personal thing. "Finest album ever" - "Complete waste of time". I am rarely a mainstream listener, I do like looking for fresh sounds, preferably something that touches me and that will grow on me.

This is an interesting album (and not in the sense of being quite inaccessible to most people!) but it wouldn't be too easy to put in a pidgeon hole (which suits me). I don't really agree with the Cohen tag tho I understand why - I hear some early Dylan on some of the tracks and there certainly is a touch of alt country. Their voices really do go well together and the music is very well balanced. Certainly this is "sexy" music to me.

Almost a challenge - listen to the final track without pressing repeat! Enjoy it, it's worth discovering