aaamusic | On 18, Dec 2014

Since the period he spent with Screaming Trees, who debuted three decades ago, Mark Lanegan has managed to get his fans accustomed to his music eccentricity and oddity.

That’s why nobody has cried scandal when, in his latest album Phantom Radio, he introduced an unusual instrument: his mobile phone.

Instead of a real drum kit with cymbals and toms or a drum machine with its 808 and 909 sounds, he decided to use an app called Funk Box and the results have been in front of everyone’s eyes since the first single was published last August.

‘Floor Of The Ocean’, which was also chosen for the first video and the first song played by radios, is arguably the best scenario possible on which the cadenced rhythms created by the Funk Box app can express themselves.

The decadent, almost gothic atmosphere, also darkly mirrored by the song’s video clip, recalls an industrial soundscape, which turns its attention to Lanegan’s passion for ‘80s British new wave and German kraut-rock. In addition, the gloomy lyrics perfectly go along with the Ellensburg singer’s voice, which is gruff and sour as ever.

While the tune, next to the sharp and clear-cut beats, enjoys some synthetic refinements, which represents a step forward on the electronic path undertaken with Blues Funeral. ‘Floor Of The Ocean’ is a faithful embodiment of Lanegan’s latest musical effort – maybe not the highest moment of the album, but one of the best reflections of its soul.

Marco Canepari