It was so shitty to hear that Mark Lanegan passed away back in 2022 at 57. Too talented of a soul, too young to die. At that point, the thought of not getting anymore music from him was something we were all forced to deal with, until it was announced that Bubblegum XX, a box set full of goodies including some unreleased work from the band would be coming out. Among that work is the track “Heard A Train,” which was shared last week. You can listen to it below.
It’s temperamental and disengaged — holding a certain pleasant distance that came with much of Lanegan’s work. “Heard A Train” joins 11 other unreleased tracks from the artist and Screaming Trees. Some of them are demos, others are outtakes from the original Bubblegum album recording sessions. The box set also includes a remastered double LP, a 4XLP/3XCD/Digital released with 40 remastered tracks, and six songs that were recorded, mixed and produced by Queens of the Stone Age’s Troy Van Leeuwen in hotel rooms, where only Lineman and Leeuwen on the instruments. All of this is thanks to both the Estate of Mark Lineman and the Beggars Arkive.
Van Leeuwen said this of the hotel room recordings”
“So these hotel demo sessions were basically forgotten…
“When I heard the news of Mark’s passing, these memories started rushing back to me. I searched through my archive of drives and somehow magically was able to open up these sessions. The original rough mixes are a real time capsule that stands up to the 20 years that have passed. It’s a true gift from Mark to those of us who love him and his unvarnished expression of beauty. With every listen, I am humbled and honored to share his gift with you.”
The box set, including a book of essays from the rest of Screaming Trees and other artists who have worked with him, will be out August 23rd.