With Hawk, Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan go to battle for the third time. The not entirely logical collaboration between the lovely Scottish singer and the gray American singer, already sounded a lot more natural after two successful albums and can hardly be called surprising anymore. Now that the news is finished, the lady and gentleman will have to overwhelm us with the song material. And that
… works wonderfully. The folk, blues and country sound authentic, but remain unmistakably pop. In addition to the moody, subdued songs, the instrumental title track shows a possessed whirlwind of guitars and wind instruments. The last song Lately, with Makeda Francisco's backing vocals, wouldn't have been out of place on Bob Dylan's Slow Train Coming. Campbell herself cannot be heard on this song, but the rest of this project mainly relies on her. In addition to two Townes Van Zandt covers, she wrote all the songs and the production, arrangements and mix are also her hand. Lanegan is such a present singer that the collaboration does not feel unbalanced. In fact, Campbell and Lanegan pull off a trick for the third time, which shouldn't really be called a trick anymore. (JE)more
