Take this very small quiz and immediately boost your sense of self-worth.

Who is Mark Lanegan?

A) The frontman for Screaming Trees
B) A product of the wet gloom of Washington state
C) A throaty singer with three acclaimed CD's: The Winding Sheet (1990), Whiskey for the Holy Ghost (1994) and Scraps at Midnight (1998)
D) All of the above.

Give yourself a high five if you guessed "D". Lanegan is back with I'll Take Care of You, an album covering songs by the likes of Brooke Benton, Overton Vertis Wright and Buck Owens. Mr Lanegan retains his fondness for tackling darker subjects -- murderers on the run, alienation or seeking redemption through love. Stripped down roots and blues tinged songs give I'll Take Care of You a melancholic languidness. The jazz lounge xylophones on the sexy stroll of "I'll Take Care of You" are a pact made convincing by Lanegan's voice, the pleading veracity of which is again expressed on "Consider Me" when he sings, deeply, "I don't wanna be left alone, please consider me."

Lanegan's voice and sparse acoustic arrangements infuse songs like "Boogie, Boogie" and "Little Sadie" with an individuality, which on one hand makes these songs his own, but on the other hand would make the artists who originally sang and composed these songs grin wryly.

I'll Take Care of You feels like a musical journey which starts someplace in Memphis, hitchhikes to the grit of Sunset Strip and then hikes to the outskirts of New Orleans. Why is Lanegan's solo work so much more impressive and memorable than his vocal duties with Screaming Trees? No matter. Just sit back and be thankful he's found an additional avenue to showcase his abrasive and soulful vocal chords.