Mark Lanegan Band - Bubblegum

Bubblegum is a 2004 rock album by American singer-songwriter Mark Lanegan, released on the Beggars Banquet label under the name "Mark Lanegan Band".

The album features a prominent cast of guest musicians, including PJ Harvey, Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age, Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs, and Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin of Guns N' Roses. Also appearing is Lanegan's ex-wife, Wendy Rae Fowler. Bubblegum was favorably reviewed by critics and remains Lanegan's most commercially successful release to date, reaching number 39 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart.

The album was recorded at various locations from 2003–2004, including Rancho De La Luna (Joshua Tree, California), Donner & Blitzen (Arcadia), 11 a.d. (Hollywood), Del Boca Vista (South Pasadena), Sound City (Los Angeles), Stagg Street (Los Angeles), Lethal (Los Angeles), Sound Arts (Houston, Texas), and Kudzu Ranch (Mebane, North Carolina). Tracks were mixed by Rick Will (1–7, 9–10), Alain Johannes (11–14) and Mathias Schneeburger (8, 15), and recorded by Will, Johannes, Schneeburger, Tracey Chisholm, Jonas G., Aldo Struyf, David Catching, Brian Baker, Rick Miller, Rail Rogut and Pete Martinez. Photography for the album is credited to Anna Hrnjak, and art direction and design to Susan McEwoen.

"Hit the City" was the second and last single from the album and features the English rock musician PJ Harvey. "Hit the City" peaked at 76 on the British singles chart and was Lanegan's first single to chart. The album title comes from a lyric in the song "Bombed". In his 2017 book I Am the Wolf: Lyrics & Writings, Lanegan recalls:

While many of the songs came from a place of dejection and ennui at the end of a tempestuous relationship, "Bombed" in particular came about when, after I had written and recorded it in just a few minutes, I put a microphone in front of Wendy Rae Fowler, my soon-to-be-ex-wife, and had her sing along while simultaneously hearing it for the first time. I loved the result as it reminded me of Royal Trux, a band I liked.

Also in I Am the Wolf, the singer writes that he wrote the love song "Strange Religion" in a Tokyo hotel room. The song was used in season 6 of the Showtime television series Californication, as well as during the closing credits of a 2017 episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.