NAU NUA: ISOBEL CAMPBELL & MARK LANEGAN

The beauty behind death

We die and see the beauty reign. Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan whisper a sad but heartfelt hymn to beauty. And it’s really beautiful. Their new journey together, Hawk (V2 Coop, 2010), goes through the melancholy, the anger over the lost beauty and the beautiful reborn after the necessary death.

Isobel has recorded her seventh album counting for the third time on Mark Lanegan. Mark's voice gives the darkness required for the beautiful Isobel’s compositions. It all starts with the death and the pursuit of beauty. Only those who live intensely know what we lose when we die.

You won’t let me down again is a strong warning. The dishes seem to fly and break from one side to another. Breakups are always painful, but not always understood. Isobel hit reality and wins a new horizon full of hope in the final guitar chord.

Snakes are a symbol of betrayal but also of sensuality. Isobel sings sensually the Townes Van Zandt’s theme Snake song along with Mark’s bittersweet voice. The southern sound dominates the album when it comes Come Undone and a romantic landscape is littered with dark clouds. Took my only flame, take my one desire... is the picture of desperate love. The arrangements are as intense as the voices of Mark and Isobel because they are born of passion. No place to fall, another Van Zandt’s song, starts with an acoustic touch and the voice of a new partner for Isobel. The young folk singer Willy Mason has a softer touch but very deep.

The spirit of Muddy Waters appears on tracks such as Get behind me or Hawk, intense instrumental track that reveals the vertigo that is to live passionately when you have death face to face.

When we close the album with Lately, we have the taste of a bitter farewell. The sense of no return path is very hard and pushes us towards the end. But we must die to be reborn and Isobel Campbell songs were born to live.

Text: Juan Carlos Romero
Photos: Isobel Campbell