It’s always a good day when Mark Lanegan announces he’s putting out a new album. It’s a better one when that announcement comes accompanied by a new song. And it’s best of all when said song is a brooding ballad that opens with Mark crooning: “Ugly, I’m so very ugly / I’m ugly inside and out, there’s no denying” as he does on Skeleton Key, the first preview of his perhaps-tellingly titled May 8 release Straight Songs of Sorrow. According to the press release, the album — which features 15 songs inspired by his life — serves as a complement and companion to his memoir Sing Backwards And Weep, which arrives April 28. “Writing the book, I didn’t get catharsis,” he chuckles. “All I got was a Pandora’s box full of pain and misery. I went way in, and remembered shit I’d put away 20 years ago. But I started writing these songs the minute I was done, and I realised there was a depth of emotion because they were all linked to memories from this book. It was a relief to suddenly go back to music. Then I realized that was the gift of the book: these songs. I’m really proud of this record.” Based on Skeleton Key, he has good reason. Check it out above, scroll down to see the rest of today’s album announcements — including The Weeknd’s After Hours and RJD2’s Fun Ones — and skip over to the Upcoming Releases page to see how the real ugliness.
March 6
Aoife O’Donovan | Bull Frogs Croon (and Other Songs) EP
March 20
The Weeknd | After Hours
March 27
Ada Lea | Woman, Here
April 3
Gentle Giant | Acquiring Taste Vinyl
Gentle Giant | Gentle Giant Vinyl
Gentle Giant | Octopus Vinyl
Gentle Giant | Three Friends Vinyl
Purity Ring | Womb
Western Centuries | Call The Captain
Yves Tumor | Heaven To A Tortured Mind
April 10
Trivial Shields | Levity EP
April 17
Caspar Brötzmann Massaker | Home Reissue
RJD2 | The Fun Ones
April 24
Destroyed in Seconds | Divide and Devour
RVG | Feral
May 1
Man Man | Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between
May 8
Mark Lanegan | Straight Songs of Sorrow
May 15
Arthur | Hair Of The Dog
