Mark Lanegan, ABC Glasgow, review: Bittersweet blues hit the heartstrings

The 50-year-old's voice turns slow somersaults of emotion

Mark Lanegan performing in Los Angeles in 2012 (Getty Images)

It says much that one of the most dramatic elements of Mark Lanegan’s show happens when the music has stopped, with his spoken voice one of the most affecting you might hear, a low purr like rolling thunder.

With a four-piece band behind him, the 50-year-old singer plays off music which is open and lively, if reassuringly ragged, with a vocal sense of something approaching bittersweet disaffection.

The combination hits heartstrings in just the right way, from the indie rocker “Hit the City” to the sleazy synth odyssey “Ode to Sad Disco” and the swooning country torch song “Torn Red Heart”.

Across two hours, his voice turns slow somersaults of emotion, climaxing with the vividly downtrodden one-two of “The Killing Season” and “Methamphetamine Blues”.