A ramblin' man and woman.
There is an old adage that opposites attract and the unlikely pairing of Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan adds weight to this suggestion. When it was first announced that the ex Belle and Sebastian famed Scots twee indie starlet was teaming up with the gravel throated, seriously hard man of rock, it was hard to picture how their two worlds would collide but 'Ballad of the Broken Seas' surpassed most expectations and could rightly claim to have been deserving of more recognition at the Mercury awards.
With fellow Glaswegian Eugene Kelly deputising for Lanegan on Campbell's tours last year, the recent shows brought the duo together in the live arena for the first time and it seemed to work as beautifully as the record did.
It was still a strange combination to see, Lanegan all stern and serious pose clashing with Campbell, who managed to giggle her way out of any forgotten lines or mis-timed rhythms not that were too many of those.
In a modern twist on the Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood tracks, the songs had that down-at-hell country and rustic feel to them with tales of heartbreak, violence and tenderness all bouncing between the two protagonists.
When their melodies crossed over, on tracks like 'Revolver', the chemistry all made sense, complimenting each other brilliantly and building the tension and frission between them both. On their own, the singing worked well even if Campbell's light melodic air was at times overtaken by the backing but combined, it was close to majestic. On '(Do you wanna) come walk with me?' Campbell merely mimics Lanegan's lead line but the sweet echo manages to take the line to a different place, offsetting the darker tone with a more upbeat feel.
About halfway through the set as the crowds cheers for Lanegan began to build, a strange thing occurred, he started to smile and almost looked as if he was enjoying himself. After years of seeing the man onstage either with Queens of the Stone Age or in his own right, a crack in the stone-cold veneer was extremely rare but it was a welcome change in façade of the singer. As Campbell joyously remarked after another whooping cat call, "aye Mark, you are in Glasgow now."
Before the encore, fans were treated to a song from Lanegan's solo album 'Bubblegum' and 'Wedding Dress' upped the evil stakes even higher, allowing Jim McCulloch's guitar to sound the most barbed and cutting it had done all night, and infused the crowd with a sense of menace and the feeling they had been touched by darkness.
A cover of Hank Williams 'Ramblin' Man' was just one of the highlights and further strengthened the link between old and new country and of the impression that these two were walking the line trod so many times before. And that's part of the beauty of the pairing, theres nothing new in the concept of doe-eyed blonde beauty singing with the battle-weary survivor but it manages to feel fresh and relevant, as opposed to being a revival. It can only be hoped there will be future duets from this partnership to look forward to.