Track, which marks album’s 20th anniversary, features on upcoming Bubblegum XX reissue
A previously unreleased track from Mark Lanegan‘s Bubblegum sessions came out on Friday to mark the album’s 20th anniversary ahead of the deluxe reissue of the album out later this month.
On the song “Heard a Train,” Lanegan sings ominous lyrics like “Somebody said that they missed me but who that was I couldn’t say,” and “Living on is a wage of sin” over a propulsive locomotive rhythm and oom-pah guitar. The song ends just with Lanegan’s voice, an angelic organ line, and a little acoustic guitar. The song, which has a haunting quality following his 2022 death, is one of a few full-band outtakes from the sessions.
Bubblegum popped into the world on Aug. 2, 2004, when it came out in the U.K. It quickly became a critical favorite due to how the songs paired Lanegan’s gravelly voice and allusions to seedy drug use with jittery guitar expressionism and swinging bluesy rhythms. “I got tired of reading stuff about my records like ‘folky and alt-country,’” Lanegan told Rolling Stone in 2003. “I thought of this as a rock record.”
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The reissue, Bubblegum XX, which was made with Lanegan’s estate, features the original album, as well as the EP Here Comes That Weird Chill (Methamphetamine Blues, Extras & Oddities) and 12 previously unreleased tracks, like “Heard a Train.” One outtake is a duet with Beck, for which Beck recently recorded his part, and several are demo recordings Lanegan cut with Queens of the Stone Age’s Troy Van Leeuwen in various hotel rooms.
“These hotel demo sessions were basically forgotten,” Van Leeuwen said in a statement. “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. … 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.”
