Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood

Although Mark Lanegan scoffs at the notion that he's a blues singer, there are few other vocalists of his generation that have a deeper understanding of what it takes to actually be one. On this collaboration with UK guitarist Duke Garwood, Lanegan's raw chops are on full display, resulting in the bluesiest recording he's made to date. The pair share a natural affinity for similar themes — mainly death and religion — and Garwood's open-tuned finger-picking style is suitably hazy and hypnotic. Several tracks, particularly "Mescalito" and "Death Rides A White Horse," evoke the strung-out desperation of Lanegan's early solo albums, while "Sphinx" and "Last Rung" build upon Lanegan's more recent ventures into psych-folk territory, which have greatly expanded his range. The surprisingly funky "Cold Molly" upsets the mood to some degree, but much like Lanegan's often-overlooked covers album, I'll Take Care of You, what you hear on Black Pudding is his voice at its most affecting.