With his third solo album, Scraps at Midnight, Mark Lanegan continues a storytelling vision that began in 1990 with The Winding Sheet and, more recently, the serene Whiskey for the Holy Ghost. In a swirling and peaceful follow-up, Lanegan proffers the fruit of another rich collaboration with Mike Johnson. Like the stark and dry land of Lanegan's roots in eastern Washington, the songwriting on Scraps at Midnight is lonely and sparse. The shadowy "Bell Black Ocean" and "Hotel" capture a harmony of lyrics and music rare among contemporary musicians. "Stay" and "Wheels" reveal Lanegan's counterpoint--his ability to craft warm and optimistic classics for our wanderings. Thoreau wrote, "The true harvest of my life is intangible... a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched." Scraps at Midnight is a bit of Lanegan's star-dust harvest. His restless spirit, with huérfanos, vagabonds, spruce forests, and bourbon glasses, hovers in the space between the notes. --Brad Doll