Two noted musicians who often look on the shadowy side of life team up to create dance music that's spooky and exciting at the same time in Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe. Dark Mark is Mark Lanegan, the former Screaming Trees vocalist known for his cool but rough-textured voice, while Skeleton Joe is Joe Cardamone, who led the acerbic indie rock band the Icarus Line before going solo and embracing electronic music. Informed by classic techno and EDM, Cardamone's backing tracks are playful and sinister at the same time, while Lanegan's lyrics are dominated by his usual downbeat themes, reinforced by the weathered strength of his voice. The two friends teamed up for their first full-length album together with 2021's Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe, which offered a careful balance between pleasure and introspection.

The two principals of Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe first met in 2004, when Lanegan was touring in support of his album Bubblegum and the Icarus Line opened several shows for him. Lanegan and Cardamone discovered they had similar tastes in music and compatible temperaments, and they formed a fast friendship. They toured together again, but plans to collaborate on a musical project didn't pan out until fate brought a certain amount of chaos into their lives in 2020. Cardamone was struggling with the end of a romantic relationship while America went into lockdown thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to him creating an audiovisual album titled Quarentina. Meanwhile, Lanegan published a shocking autobiography, Sing Backwards and Weep, that detailed decades of self-destructive behavior; seeing the book through to publication took an emotional toll on Lanegan, and he left California to live in Ireland in hopes of clearing his mind. Once Lanegan was settled into his new home, Cardamone began sending him tracks he'd written and recorded, hoping Lanegan would write and record new lyrics for the tunes. After passing files back and forth, in time the pair came up with 16 songs, which were collected on the album Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe, issued in October 2021 in partnership by the Rare Bird and Kitten Robot labels. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi