Product 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.

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: #712 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

Customer Reviews

Belle's best yet
I can only agree with the earlier reviewer, the pairing of Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan is a match made in heaven. Some unkindly dismiss Belle as the 'princess of twee' but not here, that's for certain. There's a strong sense of rhythm dominating much of the music, and wonderful arrangements; False Husband has a terrific Morricone 'spagetti western' sound, a lone guitar with reverb disappearing into some deep well, and then those sonorous tubular bells.

There's a good range of material, nearly all composed by Isobel, who also produces as well as singing and playing quite a variety of instruments. While the singing voice of the album is Lanegan's, it's definitely her project, and one that has real substance.

As the previous reviewer said, the sound from vinyl is spectacular, for me it leaves the CD for dead. Recommended without hesitation.

Nu folk-ish melodies with lovely voices
The Ballad of the Broken Seas is a collaboration between American Mark Lanegan and Scotswomen Isobel Campbell (of Belle and Sebastian).

I bought it because I read a review that said that their voices sounded the way you always wanted Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue to sound together.

To an extent that is true: their voices compliment each other beautifully and have that mix of gruff darkness and sweet lightness. The songs, whilst not ground-breaking, have decent melodies and thoughtful lyrics.

Dark brilliance
Mark Lanegan has already proved his worth collaborating with QOTSA on one of the standout tracks on their 'Lullabies' album and on the rather excellent solo album 'Bubblegum', so joining forces with Belle And Sebastien's Isobel Campbell might have come as a bit of a surprise. The results however are really, REALLY good...sometimes breathtaking! As soon as first track Dues Ibi Est begins you know you're in for something special. Mark Lanegan's growl is used to perfect effect in a Cohen-esque rumbling. Although a handful of the tracks utilise the difference in vocal tones between the two singers to great effect, none-so-better than The False Husband. This is a very special album indeed.