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May 5, 2020Over the course of an hour, Straight Songs unloads a lifetime of pain. But there is a happy ending to this story. Whereas much of the album has him merely “hanging on”, by Eden Lost And Found – a track built from a mobile phone recording of his wife messing around with an old Casio keyboard – he has embraced survival and moves towards his new dawn with, if not quite piranha teeth, then a mischievous, Cheshire cat grin.
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May 6, 2020A masterful companion piece to Lanegan's unflinching memoir. [Jun 2020, p.88]
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May 5, 2020You don’t need to have read the book to appreciate the honesty of the album, which makes a compelling argument for Lanegan as a contemporary Lead Belly. ... The tracks aren’t designed to be ornate; they’re designed to support his lyrics. The result is a beautifully haunting journey.
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Jul 20, 2020While there is a great deal of range on the new album, Lanegan weaves each track together with a specific thread. Namely, his own sordid time on this earth and the highs and lows of his prolific mind.
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May 28, 2020Downcast and spectral even by the standards of Lanegan's less-than-sunny body of work, Straight Songs of Sorrow is psychodrama as much as it is entertainment. That also makes it one of the most nakedly compelling albums Lanegan has given us, and anyone who has been interested in his music or his life will find it darkly mesmerizing.
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May 11, 2020He genuinely tries not to romanticise his despairing condition and is unforgiving about his own flaws, although the sheer gravity of his voice and dark appeal of his loner stance can’t help but exert their own seductive pull.
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May 8, 2020Slight quibbles aside, there is plenty of gold to be found here.
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May 7, 2020Loss, regret and shame are wound up in this album’s DNA, but they are balanced out by a generous dose of hope, a solemn promise that someone can go through the darkest of times and come out stronger, steadier and more complete than ever before.
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May 7, 2020We should all count ourselves lucky that that role fell to a man willing to be this open and viscerally honest, and to translate it into music that salves the soul.
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MojoMay 5, 2020The freshness of allowing us into his private world, most importantly, fuels Lanegan's third rock/electronic beauty on the bounce. [Jun 2020, p.86]
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UncutMay 5, 2020If the dark intensity leans close to self-parody at times, there are enough musical surprises to bring some light to Lanegan's darkness. [Jun 2020, p.33]
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Q MagazineMay 5, 2020A wonderful counterpart to his book, and just as special on its own. [Jul 2020, p.110]
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May 11, 2020Trimming would have helped, still, a portion of his fan base might have asked for this full retreat into darkness for quite a number of years now. It’s ironic how Lanegan’s most tumultuous experience came wrapped in one of the most toned down collections of songs so far. Also, the difficulties of relating to these stories refrain the LP from becoming one of the strongest in the catalog.
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May 5, 2020It’s not for the squeamish or those looking for concise, structured songs. But established followers will likely get on board and stay there. Others may want to dip their toes to test the temperature before they jump into Lanegan’s choppy, occasionally dissonant but revelatory waters.
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May 5, 2020The quality of the songwriting varies widely, despite the more or less consistent theme of death.
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May 19, 2020Despite its best intentions, Straight Songs Of Sorrow is an album that would’ve worked considerably better as a well-pruned EP. As it stands, there’s too much intent and not enough delivery to maintain attention throughout its sprawling running time.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 11 out of 14
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Mixed: 2 out of 14
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Negative: 1 out of 14
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May 10, 2020
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Jun 24, 2020