Mark Lanegan - I'll Take Care of You (1999/2015) [Official Digital Download]

For his fourth solo album following the breakup of the much beloved Screaming Trees, Mark Lanegan delves into the always fraught waters of the all-covers album. Often a stylistic mish-mash of the artist's favorite songs done so much in their original styles that the singer's true personality is lost, the covers album is dangerous territory, but Lanegan navigates it beautifully. Crucially, „I’ll Take Care of You“ finds Lanegan performing the work of other singers and songwriters in his own style rather than adapting himself to suit the songs. Therefore, tunes by 1960s folkies Fred Neil ('Badidah') and Tim Hardin ('Shiloh Town') sit comfortably next to efforts by 1980s blues-punks the Gun Club ('Carry Home') and the Leaving Trains ('Creeping Coastline of Lights'), as well as a handful of traditional folk and country songs.

By now, anyone who has heard one of Mark Lanegan's solo albums knows exactly what the others will sound like – Lanegan's weathered, smoky voice intones tales of quiet desperation over echoing electric guitar arpeggios, folky acoustic guitar work, and the occasional piano, organ, or violin embellishment. This approach has resulted in a compelling body of work, often possessed of remarkable depth, but it's also become something of a stylistic straitjacket over the course of several albums. And that's the only major knock against the otherwise brilliant I'll Take Care of You, Lanegan's fourth solo album, which marks the first time it hasn't taken him four years to deliver a follow-up. Perhaps that's because there's no original material here – I'll Take Care of You applies the drifting, elegiac qualities of its predecessors to a selection of well-chosen, mostly underexposed folk, country, and blues covers. It's a testament to Lanegan's interpretive skill that he's able to use his already well-established style so effectively yet again, as most of these versions range from stunning to merely excellent. His sources are widely varied: acclaimed but undervalued folk artists like Tim Hardin and Fred Neil, soul-blues singer Bobby Bland (the Brook Benton-penned title track), cult indie bands the Gun Club and the Leaving Trains, country superstar Buck Owens, and traditional folk songs best known through Dave Van Ronk and Doc Watson. Yet the uniformity of Lanegan's sound works in his favor, tying his disparate sources together and making them seem like the product of a unified worldview. Even on the more upbeat, major-key tunes, Lanegan's treatments make the singer's happiness sound wistful and fleeting, as though he's achieved a quiet peace and is already mourning its inevitable end. Moreover, he never overplays the darker dirges, and the restrained arrangements help ensure that his melancholy never seems forced. As good as they are, there are parts of every Lanegan album that float off into the ether; however, the material on I'll Take Care of You helps keep him tethered, actually improving on his signature sound by tightening it up. So, even if you think you've heard it all from Lanegan before – and even if he'll have to open up his sound or risk diluting the qualities that make him compelling – I'll Take Care of You really is one of his most affecting, accessible recordings, if not the most.

Tracklist:

01. Carry Home
02. I'll Take Care Of You
03. Shiloh Town
04. Creeping Coastline Of Lights
05. Badi-Da
06. Consider Me
07. On Jesus' Program
08. Little Sadie
09. Together Again
10. Shanty Man's Life
11. Boogie Boogie

Personnel:

Mark Lanegan - vocals
Mike Johnson - guitar
Steve Berlin - organ, flute, piano
Martin Feveyear - organ, percussion, piano
Mark Hoyt - guitars, vocals
David Krueger - violin
Van Conner - bass
Ben Shepherd - bass
Mark Boquist - drums
Mark Pickerel - drums
Barrett Martin - percussion, vibraphone



All thanks go to the original releaser