:: Marianne Faithfull - Before The Poison

Marianne Faithfull

Since the release of her first single in 1964, the Jagger/Richards composition ‘As Tears Go By’, Marianne Faithfull has forged a long and successful career from interpreting the songs of others. On her 19th album, she finds herself in the excellent company of Polly Harvey, Nick Cave, Damon Albarn, and the American composer Jon Brion. When music‘s elder statesmen decide to join forces with contemporary stars, such as Tom Jones and his recent dalliance with the indie-rock set, it can often veer dangerously close to tokenistic employment of stars with a more marketable image. Thankfully, that is not the case here, due in part to the strength of this original material, as well as Faithfull's worthy lyric contributions. Throughout this recording, Faithfull's husky delivery exudes the kind of life experience that can only come with the passing years. The only problem being that Faithfull doesn't always manage to completely take ownership of these songs. At times this sounds like a joint effort from Cave's granny and a superannuated Harvey. Despite this minor gripe, Poison the Well is a superb record. Harvey shows herself to be at the peak of her powers, these are not merely 'Uh Huh Her’ rejects, the music must be pouring out for her not to be saving these tunes for her own future release. The album kicks off with vintage latter-day Harvey songwriting. ‘The Mystery of Love’ would not be out of place on 2000‘s 'Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea’, whereas ‘My Friends Have’ recalls the rougher, more visceral territory of 2004‘s 'Uh Huh Her’. From the first spine-tingling piano chord of ‘Crazy Love’, Cave‘s timeless classicism is just as easily recognisable. Faithfull excels; her tender delivery perfectly matched to the romantic melancholy of Cave's music. The standout track to these ears is the sole Albarn piece 'Last Song’ which isn‘t instantly recognisable as the work of the Blur frontman. Perhaps due in part to this song not bearing the heavy fingerprints of its author, Faithfull wholly inhabits the tune, her world-weary delivery in absolute tandem with the mournful elegance of the track, which is redolent of 60s psychedelics, Love, but has a uniqueness all of its own. The final track 'City of Quartz’ written with Jon Brion, finds Faithfull in the guise of Marlene Dietrich performing in a Baz Lurhmann musical, which works perfectly. Poison the Well is undoubtedly a triumph for Faithfull, although the real treat for the younger audience is the exceptional new material from Harvey, Cave, and Albarn.

Chris Brady