Marianne Faithfull -‘Horses and high Heels’

There is no disputing that Marianne Faithfull is an icon and a legend. While some people may try to continue raking over her past, the real reason that she remains in the public eye is that she continues to record and make great records. More importantly, she is doing this on her own terms, without feeling the need to collaborate with Take That or appear on package revival tours.

Whilst the high pint of her career remains 1979’s still-astonishing Broken English, there is much to recommmend on this album, her 22nd. Getting past the frankly awful front cover artwork (like something a junk shop refused, frankly), the album opens with three very strong songs. The triple whammy is ‘The Stations (written by Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan), the encounter with an old lover ‘Why Did We Have To Part?’ and ‘That’s How Every Empire Falls.’ The latter is like the Stones’ ‘She’s A Rainbow’ grown older and wiser.

There is an Americana-edge to the album, which works better on some tracks than on others. There is a dip in the middle of the album with ‘Love Song’ and ‘Gee Baby’ and I cannot help thinking that the album would have been better off without them. No matter: the pace and quality of the album do pick up again.

La Faithfull shows no signs of stopping. Whatever label you want to attach to her, I favour: ‘Marianne Faithful: Singer.’

***1/2

To download ‘Why Did We have To Part?’ go here

Horses and High Heels is released on March 7.