Admit it: you’ve been wondering about Mark Lanegan lately. You’ve been asking yourself when he’ll be putting out another CD of often surprising, sometimes beautiful, occasionally frightening music. Even more importantly, you’ve been pondering one of life’s big questions: why has Zombyboy gone so long without indulging his semi-secret obsession?

Yeah. Good question.

It sounds as if Lanegan has been a busy boy. Aside from the rumors that still work to explain his departure from the Queens of the Stone Age tour--and the rumors are ugly in the way that rumors about musicians are always ugly--there have been a number of recent Lanegan sightings and the great potential for a whole lot of music coming our way. Of course, with anything Lanegan-related, release dates should be taken with a block of salt.

The Twee Lanegan

When Isobel Campbell couldn’t find anyone in her native Scotland to sing the low part on a song for her upcoming Ballad of the Broken Seas, the ethereal-voiced singer reached across the Atlantic and connected with one of rock’s deepest, growliest voices: former Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan.

“Why Does My Head Hurt So?"--the first song that they did together--was gorgeous. The sound is lush and the song is sweet; it’s one of his finest vocal performances. I’m holding onto a lot of hope for this one. Theoretically, it should be out in September.

The Un-Twee Lanegan

At the Hullabaloo show in Silver Lake, former Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli gave up the goods on his upcoming collaboration with former Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan. The Gutter Twins, as the Nineties rock stalwarts are calling themselves, have almost wrapped the tentatively titled Saturnalia. “My favorite track is ‘All Misery,’” said Dulli. “I think it’s some of the best vocals Mark’s ever done. He’s one of my favorite singers of all time, so that’s going pretty deep.”

The Gutter Twins have been discussed for quite some time now, but the finished product just never seems to surface. Maybe with the time spent away from Queens of the Stone Age, Lanegan really has had the time to put some of these products to bed.

To be honest, though, this one worries me a bit. Dulli is a creative force, but he’s also prone to missteps and overreaching. If he dominates the project, then it could end up sounding less like a collaboration and more like a Dulli side-project with Lanegan singing. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s far from ideal.

The Mysterious Lanegan

Ben Hater just got done recording 16 new songs with Mark Lanegan! Ben says its “gun-fighting music”

Ben Hater? Is that a reference to Ben Shepherd? Shepherd has worked with Lanegan on his last few albums, so that wouldn’t be a stretch, and Shepherd is the driving force behind the band Hater.

Or is it someone that I’ve just never heard of before? I feel so lost.

But 16 new songs of “gun-fighting music.” Yeah, you know I’m intrigued.

Now, about those release dates…