Tuesday 23/01/07 Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, William Elliott Whitmore @ Shepherds Bush Empire, London

William Elliot Whitmore lives and breathes the Mississippi Delta as he never fails to remind us. His credentials certainly do check out, hails from horse farm on the Mississippi river- check, perfectly gravelly voice- check, but he fails to bring anything new to the 80 year old Delta blues genre and authenticity alone isn’t that thrilling. Apparently alone in this opinion, judging by the audience reaction, we wait for Campbell and Lanegan to take it into the present century.

Luckily ‘Ballad of the Broken Seas’ is charmingly modern, often compared to Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra for the dark/light dichotomy and dreamy quality they capture their sinister essence but move it forward with a shimmering guitar line more similar in feel to Yo La Tengo. Tonight, technical glitches during ‘Dusty Wreath’ aside, the performance is mesmerising - Lanegan hardly moving, impenetrable shadows over the hoods of his eyes, Campbell is the perfect foil with her endearing and personable manner. The older Belle and Sebastian fans certainly seem rapt with the “Indie Amelie” as they watch her every move but their solo songs get equal cheers and it seems they can do no wrong. The moody numbers are where they excel- ‘The Circus is Leaving Town’ threatens like a raincloud over the desert. They have the atmospherics and the droney sound of Brightblack Morning Light but the boy/girl tension and emotional weight also remind one of Tindersticks.

All in all they mine a narrow seam but make a rich and varied sound out of it. We can only agree with the wag that shouts for a second album.