Between her Dylan tribute album and the Valve Bone Woe experiment, Chrissie Hynde has shown her love of songs from all over the popular music map. On the lowkey Duets Special, she tackles a baker’s dozen tunes with all sort of “pals” (her term) selected from various genres. Most of the album is subdued and acoustic, though she and Cat Power bring in the fuzz for Morrissey’s “First Of The Gang To Die”, and there’s subtle electricity for “Every Little Bit Hurts” with Carleen Anderson. She does two songs associated with Elvis Presley (one a virtual duet with the late Mark Lanegan) and the slowcore band Low is also touched on twice, first with Debbie Harry (who sounds like an older Marianne Faithfull here) on their “Try To Sleep”, and then with the band’s Alan Sparhawk on Cass McCombs’ “County Line”. Beyond those, the choices aren’t too obscure, though k.d. lang does lead a gender-bent but faithful (odd word, we know) take on “Me And Mrs. Jones”. Lucinda Williams snarls her way through a mostly unplugged “Sway” via the Rolling Stones, but the most eye-raising collaboration would be with Julian Lennon on his father’s “It’s Only Love”.
Duets Special is nice, and if you like her, you might like this. Or you might not. We found it a pleasant side trip.
Chrissie Hynde & Pals Duets Special (2025)—3
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