Featuring Dave Gahan, Nick Cave, Debbie Harry, Mark Lanegan, Warren Ellis, Mick Harvey, Lydia Lunch, Mark Stewart, Jim Jones, Jim Jarmusch, Peter Hayes, The Coathangers, Suzie Stapleton, Duke Garwood & more. If that list doesn’t set your musical taste buds tingling then I don’t know what will. Quite simply I got excited way back when I first heard there was going to be a volume four of Jeffrey Lees sessions. I loved Gun Club from the very first time I heard their music and everything thereafter moving through the posthumous releases I couldn’t get enough so when these releases came out and seeing the list of contributors I was delighted and this is no exception.

Ten years in the making by the late Gun Club titan’s guitarist Cypress Grove, the Project has always
aimed to highlight Pierce as one of America’s most fascinatingly influential singer-songwriters of
the last century while propelling his outpourings into modern times by placing it in the hands of
former collaborators, friends and fans. Following 2009’s We Are Only Riders, 2012’s The Journey Is Long, and 2014’s Axels and Sockets, The Task Has Overwhelmed Us presents stellar interpretations of tracks from Pierce’s Gun Club and solo canons along with fresh works constructed from rehearsal skeletons its simply exquisite. Described as a wild ride doesn’t do it justice from these skeletons and Frankenstein songs have been fleshed out into lean mean rockin machines from Depeche modes Dave Gahan’s opening haunted piano ballad take on ‘Mother of Earth’ through, Mark Lanegan singing ‘Go Tell The Mountain’ backed by Ellis and Cave (who back Jeffrey himself on ‘Yellow Eyes’) is simply haunting and the warmth in the vocal is spine-tingling. Cave duetting beautifully with Debbie Harry again on ‘On the Other Side’. The blitzkrieg bop of ‘Debbie By The Christmas Tree’ is only matched by a thumping Jim Jones ‘Going Down The Red River’.

If it’s beautiful balladeering then Suzie Stapleton doing ‘Secret Fires’ will give you the chills. But the Debbie Harry and Nick Cave duet is simply wonderful no need for superlatives it walks the walk and talks the talk. there are eighteen tracks on offer and I could recount them all and their majestic beauty but I’ll trust you to buy this and revel in the genius and beauty of the music and these interpretations. Jeffrey Lee Pierce went too soon, way too soon he had so much more to offer on top of what he did leave us. Just buy it! it’s worth every second of your time.

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Author:Dom Daley

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