Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan
"His voice is rough and a lot of people say mine is angelic," Campbell says of Lanegan. "It's the two sides of the coin, really. That's how we both always looked at it. It's very unlikely. It's a very feminine/masculine thing as well."
Isobel Campbell is the former cellist and backup vocalist for Belle & Sebastian, as well as leader of The Gentle Waves. Mark Lanegan used to be the frontman of the Seattle grunge band The Screaming Trees, has recently played with Queens of the Stone Age, and formed together with Greg Dulli The Gutter Twins. Lanegan has also been releasing solo albums since 1990.
In April 2004, Lanegan released an EP with Campbell, titled Time Is Just the Same. They would later release a single entitled "Ramblin' Man" for their collaboration album Ballad of the Broken Seas. Campbell wrote and recorded the majority of the album's tracks in Glasgow, with Lanegan adding vocals in Los Angeles. The record was well-received by critics who likened the duo to Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue.
In addition to providing vocals, Lanegan also wrote the track "Revolver" with Campbell. The album was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize. Lanegan and Campbell played four UK concerts in January 2007, with the London date being moved to a larger venue as a result of high demand for tickets.
After a concert with Lanegan in January, 2007 Campbell asked Lanegan if he would consider making a new album, Lanegan replied: "in a heartbeat". This time Lanegan flew to Glasgow to record the new album at the end of March for nine days to record the songs Campbell had written. After working with Lanegan, Campbell stated:
"It is his classic, effortless American voice that I love". Campbell also stated that "I think I was playing about with that a lot so there’s a few of what Mark would call raunchy songs and a few ballads too".
The album, Sunday at Devil Dirt, was released on May 5, 2008 with the track "Who Built the Road" being the only single released from it. Hawk the third album from this collaboration is set to be released on August 24th, 2010.
