The long and winding road that leads to Zenga takes its final step today. I could turn your screen blue with the number of articles I've written about this album and its journey into the hands, ears, and hearts of music listeners. I could point you to the interview I did with Barrett Martin where he first began to describe it. I could point you to the article I wrote when Zenga transitioned from a double album to two separate albums. I could remind you of the times unforeseen circumstances led to delays in the album's release. I feel like I've been writing about Zenga for ages, and only now am I getting around to talking about it as a fully realized, readily available album of music.
I've been listening to Zenga since March when I received a pre-release, advance copy. It has been a staple of my listening menu ever since. I wrote a special birthday edition of my daily series Verse Chorus Verse last week, listing a favorite song for each of my 36 birthdays. For my 23rd birthday, I chose a song from Screaming Trees' Dust.
It's impossible to overstate the impact that record had on me. I was already a fan of Screaming Trees and had begun to enjoy lead singer Mark Lanegan's solo records, but that album really marks the point where I locked in with the band. It would be the band's last official artistic statement as a quartet. Lanegan would turn full time to his solo career and make the best albums as a solo artist. The rewarding experience of listening to Dust and Lanegan's solo records were the impetus to roll the dice on the first solo record from Screaming Trees drummer and multi-instrumentalist Barrett Martin. I didn't know what kind of record The Painted Desert was going to be, but Martin's impressive number of instrumental credits and my passion for Screaming Trees inspired me to want to gamble on it. The reverberations of that decision continue today.
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