Mark Lanegan Band - Somebody's Knocking review

The Guardian 80

(Heavenly)
Lanegan’s desolate croon gets its groove on, in this rocking, relatable 11th album

Mark Lanegan must be a terrible Cluedo player. His 11th studio album makes it pretty clear it was New Order, in the library, with the low-slung bass guitar. Possibly in collusion with Joy Division. Not that Somebody’s Knocking is limited to trying to re-create the mood of Manchester in the 1980s, but Playing Nero, Name and Number and She Loved You are so directly indebted that you can’t help but laugh at the brazenness of it. Why not rhyme fun with gun while you’re at it and make it a full house? As Lanegan has explained, though, his love of electronic music predates him being surly rock’s pinup, and it’s a thread throughout Somebody’s Knocking, albeit normally in the context of rock of some sort. This is very much not Mark Lanegan’s EDM album.