MARK Lanegan has the deepest, grungiest voice in rock and to hear it rumbling down the line like a train emerging from a tunnel is never to be forgotten.

This rearranged phone interview came too late for his April 20 concert at York's Grand Opera House, where reviewer Paul Rhodes noted: "Never talkative on stage, Lanegan's occasional thanks were by his standards positively exuberant."

There was still time, however, to preview the 51-year-old American singer and songwriter's second Yorkshire show, at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on Sunday, and so we spoke late on Monday afternoon, where questions were met with measured, brief responses, after a pause, the voice a drawl to remind you of Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name in Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns.

You are between albums, Mark. Are you working on new material...? "I'll probably have a new album out early next year," he says. How far have you progressed. "I've started it in Los Angeles. I can't really say more than that."

As well as your early grunge days in Seattle's Screaming Trees, Mark, you have been the go-to voice for Queens Of The Stone Age, The Twilight Singers, Soulsavers, Unkle and Isobel Campbell among others, on top of your plentiful solo records. How do you choose your set list? "I basically just focus on my solo records for the most part; there's a couple of things from the Trees, and maybe a few other things," he says. "It's stripped down, so it might be weird to do something by Queens Of The Stone Age."

Being a voice in demand "has been good for me", acknowledges Lanegan. "I've been blessed with lots of opportunities, though it shouldn't really happen to a guy of my age." So why does it keep happening? "I've no idea, but they keep coming."

How did the albums with former Belle & Sebastian member Isobel Campbell come to fruition? "We recorded long distance for the first record. She wrote the songs, sent them to me and I just sang them. The second record we did in Glasgow; the third in Los Angeles. Each time, Isobel wrote them, I sang them," says Mark.

Time after time these "guest" appearances have come up trumps. "When I take something on, it's because I think I can do what they want and usually it has worked out."

Have there been any failures? "There's been the odd occasion where I haven't been able to do anything with the music; it's disappointing when that happens, but it's only been a couple of times."

This spring, Lanegan is taking his dark and vengeful brand of Americana on a long European tour. "I do have an audience in America but it's not nearly as much as it is over here," he reasons. "I don't why that is, but I'm glad I'm appreciated here."

It was time to ask about that volcanic singing voice. Did he have to look after it? "You know, I've never really taken care of it in the way that other singers do; I've never learned to do vocal exercises."

Did Lanegan have to "create" his voice by bashing it about, like Rod Stewart before him? "You know, again, it's just the voice I was born with, though it's definitely deepened and got rougher as I've got older."

Paul Rhodes's review of Lanegan's York concert began by observing how he "seems to be ageing gracefully, looking healthier than he has in years", after earlier living the rock'n'roll life to the max. "I feel lucky to still be around, to still be able to make music, and that people still want to hear it," says Mark. "I'm grateful for all that."

An Evening With Mark Lanegan at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on Sunday, 7.30pm, supported by Duke Garwood. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or at cityvarieties.co.uk