I do love a good collaboration, especially in the form of duets, and Isobel Campbell, of Belle and Sebastian, and Mark Lanegan, of Screaming Trees, serve up something wonderful on their album Hawk. And don't let their past work throw you off-track-- you'd be hard-pressed to find echoes of Belle and Sebastian or Screaming Trees here.
If you liked Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris's album, I'm willing to bet you'll like this one. Despite Campbell's Scottish background, the album sounds purely American, seamlessly melding blues, country, soul, folk, and rock. The unlikely pairing of their voices, hers floating, light, and airy and his gravelly, deep, and steady, has an alluring, addictive magic to it.
In fact, I am quite addicted to the song above. If it weren't for their unconventional voices, one could easily think this song was recorded in the 60's.
Willy Mason makes an appearance on this touchingly spare cover of Townes Van Zandt's "No Place to Fall"...
And as a final note, I LOVE the album cover. The typeface and the photo and the simple layout... just so good.