Blues Funeral
Studio album by Mark Lanegan
Released	February 6, 2012
Recorded	January—May 2011
Studio	11AD Studio, Hollywood, California
Genre	Alternative rock,blues rock
Length	55:27
Language	English
Label	4AD
Producer	Alain Johannes
Mark Lanegan chronology
Bubblegum (2004) Blues Funeral (2012) Black Pudding (2013)
Singles from Blues Funeral
"The Gravedigger's Song" Released: December 5, 2011 "Gray Goes Black" Released: January 30, 2012 (download only) "Harborview Hospital" Released: April 9, 2012 (promo only)

Blues Funeral is the seventh studio album by Americanalternative rock musicianMark Lanegan, released on February 6, 2012, on4AD.^[1] The album was recorded with producerAlain Johannes throughout early 2011 and Johannes, as well as other musicians includingGreg Dulli,David Catching andJack Irons, contributed to the recording process.^[1]Blues Funeral was announced for release on November 7, 2011, through Lanegan's official website^[2] and less than a month later, the album's lead single, "The Gravedigger's Song," was released as a digital download oniTunes.^[3]

Aside from collaborative albums withIsobel Campbell, and other collaboration projects includingSoulsavers andThe Gutter Twins,Blues Funeral was Mark Lanegan's first new material in eight years, sinceBubblegum (2004)^[4] Upon its release,Blues Funeral received widespread critical acclaim and charted in six countries within the week of its release, includingBelgium, theNetherlands, Sweden, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Following extensive collaborations withIsobel Campbell, former vocalist and celloist ofindie pop bandBelle & Sebastian, Lanegan began working onBlues Funeral after the tour in promotion of their third collaborative studio album,Hawk (2010). The tour concluded on October 29, 2010, in Los Angeles, California^[5] and Lanegan subsequently began composing songs. In an interview withMojo, Lanegan described his writing process for the album, saying that: "[all of the songs on the new record] were written right before or during the period when we recorded" and "generally I write on the guitar, but this one I started a few with the keyboard and a drum machine, to do something different. With Al [Johannes], I can show him something on acoustic guitar and give him a description and within a couple of hours it's done."^[6]

In his 2017 bookI Am the Wolf: Lyrics & Writings, Lanegan admits he had more or less lost interest in writing and singing after a near death experience, and it was only after recording "Burning Jacob's Ladder" with producer Alain Johannes as the initial trailer tune for the video gameRage that the pair continued collaborating, with the singer commenting, "If forced to choose only one of my albums to play live, this would be it."

The Quietus described the album's sound as: "Blues Funeral incorporates beats marshalled by sequencers with grand cinematic sweeps and a rock & roll sensibility that reveals an artist refusing to paint himself into a corner." Lanegan also noted that "with this new record, because I use a lot of the elements of my influences that I haven't on previous record, I've made a record that's something more like I would personally listen to than some of the records that I've made before,"^[7] and listed the album's influences asThe Gun Club'sMiami,Joy Division'sCloser andRoxy Music'sCountry Life among others. Lanegan reflects on the album and its compositions inI Am the Wolf:

• "'The Gravedigger's Song' was something I had originally tried to use on someone else's recording, but it didn't make any sense until a drumbeat lifted from anAdam Ant song proved to be its missing component..."
• "'Riot in My House' was inspired, like many of my tunes through the years, by the music of Swedish bandThe Leather Nun."
• "Danish directorNicolas Winding Refn'sPusher trilogy was the stimulus behind 'Ode to Sad Disco,' and its music was taken in part from thePusher II soundtrack."
• "Blues Funeral's title is an homage to the great T.S. McPhee's bandThe Groundhogs, and its overall sound is reflective of myKrautrock listening habit..."

Lanegan's official website posted apress release on November 7, 2011^[2] announcing thatBlues Funeral was due to be released worldwide on February 6, 2012. The album was made available forpre-order oniTunes^[8] and domestic versions of the album on CD anddouble LP were made available through the 4AD Store^[9] andAmazon.^[10] Physical versions of the album were released a day later than the digital release. On January 21, 2012, Amazon previewed thirty-second clips of each songs on the album^[10] and on January 31,Mojo made the album available for stream in its entirety.^[11]

A two-leg tour was planned to accompany the release ofBlues Funeral throughout spring 2012. Lanegan performed two shows in the United States—at theBowery Ballroom in New York on February 7^[12] and atEchoplex in Los Angeles, California on February 9^[13]— prior to the European tour which would last from February 24 to April 2. The tour would includeNorway,Finland, theNetherlands,Belgium, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany,Denmark,Poland,Czech Republic,Slovakia,Austria,Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, andPortugal. Following the release of the album, Lanegan announced two further legs of the tour with five shows in Australia and New Zealand in April 2012^[14] and with twelve shows in the United States, Mexico and Canada in May 2012.^[15]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.6/10[19]
Metacritic	75/100[20]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[21]
The A.V. Club	C−[22]
The Guardian	[23]
The Independent	[24]
Mojo	[25]
Pitchfork	5.9/10[26]
Q	[27]
Rolling Stone	[28]
Spin	8/10[29]
Uncut	[30]

Blues Funeral was released to positive critical acclaim. AtMetacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[20]Mojo reviewer Keith Cameron said that "no other singer of his generation plumbs the depths so credibly, or does mournful with such grace", awarded the album a full five stars and referred to it as an "instantMOJO classic."^[25] Andy Gill ofThe Independent calledBlues Funeral "the most accomplished of Lanegan's albums," adding that the album is "boasting a rare congruence between lyrical themes and musical evocations".^[24]BBC Music's Kevin Harley said that the album "deepens his pitch while exhibiting a range and grace beyond his death's-head profile" and "sells [the songs] with conviction and character."^[31] Tom Hughes ofThe Guardian described it as "bluesy, lugubrious, modernish rock, elevated by Lanegan's remarkable gravel-pit of a voice" but concluded that "running close to a full hour, this can feel like a long funeral".^[23]Drowned in Sound reviewer Robert Leedham referred to the album as "deliciously callous but cursedly familiar" and added that it was "a record for ardent fans and not casual admirers".^[32] Jason Heller ofThe A.V. Club referred to the album as "a blatant and lackluster attempt to keep up with the times" and criticised its production "in which no note or texture is left digitally unprocessed".^[22]Pitchfork describedBlues Funeral as "a mixed bag" and the songs as "many dirges that simply drag", but positively noted the album's influences and Lanegan's vocals ("almost invariably powerful on a sheer physical level").^[26]Stereogum listed the album as Album of the Week upon its release and gave a very positive review applauding Lanegan's vocals, the album'ssynthpop influences and "his most unburdened album in many, many years".^[33]

Japanese^[35] bonus track

• 2012 albums
• Mark Lanegan albums
• 4AD albums
• Albums produced by Alain Johannes

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