Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - With Animals

Recorded across Los Angeles, Pasadena, and the stark isolation of Joshua Tree, With Animals finds Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood deep in their shared creative terrain. Both artists have spent their careers operating at the edges, crafting music for the small hours, and this second collaboration feels fully immersed in that nocturnal world. True to its title, the album sounds as if it was made in the presence of unseen creatures, shaped by instinct, atmosphere, and darkness rather than polish or convention.

The songs on With Animals are analogue, dusty, and tactile, evoking the feeling of a forgotten 1960s studio sealed off from time while the outside world quietly unravels. Sparse instrumentation, raw guitar tones, and understated rhythms create a hypnotic foundation for Lanegan’s unmistakable voice, which moves through the record with a weary authority. Garwood’s playing and compositional instincts add a subtle tension, blending blues, folk, and experimental textures into something both ancient and unsettling.

Following their first collaboration Black Pudding and years of working together on Lanegan’s solo releases like Blues Funeral and Gargoyle, With Animals feels less like a side project and more like a fully realized partnership. The album does not chase hooks or easy moments, instead rewarding patient listening with mood, space, and emotional weight. For fans of Lanegan’s darker work and Garwood’s boundary pushing approach, With Animals stands as a quietly powerful document of two artists fully in sync, creating music that thrives in the shadows.