Isobel Campbell

Troubadour - March 7, 2006

Live Review by Amber Henson

Isobel Campbell, formerly of Belle and Sebastian and The Gentle Waves, is on her own and doing just fine. Well, somewhat on her own; her new album, Ballad of the Broken Seas, is a collaborative effort with singer Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age).

Lanegan was not with her at the Troubadour. Towards the end of the show, someone in the audience yelled out “Where’s Mark?” His substitute, who sang most of the songs with Isobel, answered “Mark’s taking the day off,” and Isobel added, “I think he’s watchin’ TV or something.”

This sold-out show was part of her first American tour since her days in Belle and Sebastian—and it was fun. Isobel came down the stairs from the green room in a funky brown dress and cowboy boots. She looked tired at times, which we later found out was due to “jet lag,” as she told us after she missed a cue. But overall the whole thing was very nice, and the cowboy boots worked well, as many of the songs from her new album sounded very country. The rest of the songs she played, on the other hand, were from an even newer, Celtic-sounding EP called Love is Teasing that hasn’t even been released yet (although she’s selling it after the shows). She only played one song that wasn’t off one of those two albums—“Time is Just the Same” from her first solo album, Amorino.

What really made the concert is Isobel’s persona, which is a strange, shy, almost infantile one. She kept her eyes closed when she sang and didn’t talk to the audience much. The audience was quiet, too, listening politely with respect in their eyes—probably all savvy Belle and Sebastian fans.

One last thing: God, does Isobel love her egg instrument. She would shake that thing all day long if she had a third hand—using her original two to play her cello, of course.