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ANTI-86732
Release Date US: 2005-01-25
Available now as an
Import
There is little written or said about
the legendary Marianne Faithfull that a) hasn't already been
said before and b) she hasn't already said about herself. Not
all of it is true, of course, as her life in both the press and as an
artist has been shrouded with mystery and mistruth ever since she emerged
from convent school (no, not the nunnery) as a teenager to record As
Tears Go By in 1964.
Fortunately, her increasing legacy as an artist -
both as a singer/songwriter and an actor - USUALLY precedes her historic
legacy as, well, an icon of sorts. Besides, her own self-assessments
in interviews and biography are as candid, charming, and as brutally honest
as anyone who has lived and survived her journey - much less report on it
- could probably ever be.
It is within that honesty we find the core of
Marianne Faithfull as a songwriter - here specifically as a lyricist - and
vocalist of unusual power and stark grace. It is this churning
machine of self awareness and exploration that is the very heart of
Before the Poison, Faithfull's first album since 2002's
Kissin Time, and it is where we finally find Marianne Faithfull
being good to herself, at long last. Even in a somewhat dark and
dramatic setting as this, she emerges hopeful and strong. This
album, her third of this millennium, is far more focused and accessible
than either of its two recent predecessors.
At the age of 57, when many artists who have had
prior successes in the 60s, 70s, 80s and even 90s as she has had, are for
the most part musically impotent, she has once again found her edge -
challenged and reconciled her past - and laid a continuing groundwork for
a musical future that hopefully includes many more albums to come.
This is a solid yet diverse rock album, gritty
and unadorned, with plenty of melodic punch, incisive lyrics, and that
by-now-famous world-weary, unapologetic voice spanning three intriguing
octaves as it winds itself around a range of emotions far greater than
most any self-proclaimed so-called super-diva could ever hope to capture!
From the opening track, The Mystery of Love,
the tone is set - with Faithfull's
punchy delivery paired with a droll and forceful guitar accompaniment by
PJ Harvey.
"When you're not by my side - the world's in tune, and I'm a
fool. When you're not in my sight - then everything...just fades
from view. The mystery of love belongs to you." Very quickly
the full band joins in and drums and percussion build the cut into one of
the most imposingly restrained album openers in recent memory.
On the subsonic, minor-key power-punk thumper,
My Friends Have, those not familiar with the lower reaches of
Faithfull's range may be a bit thrown off by her delivery of the opening
verses and chorus in her somewhat parched and monochromatic near-baritone,
and they will be then equally surprised as she skips a full two octaves
higher to shout out the remaining rounds of chorus and verse. |
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And it is there, in a
sweet and conversational alto, borrowing some additional notes from a
plaintive and engaging soprano, that she remains for the next few songs,
the startlingly beautiful Crazy Love, which was co-written
by Faithfull and Nick Cave,
and Damon Albarn's
winsome Last Song, to
which Faithfull supplied additional lyrics. Those who thought
Faithfull's voice "disappeared" with the emergence of Broken English
simply have not paid attention to the many albums she has recorded since,
and this song is a superlative example. Here, borrowing bits of that
sweet soprano once more, she pounces on the opening refrain after an
intriguing acoustic guitar intro, and demonstrates her absolute skill at
navigating her complex and utterly unique phrasing around a pointed and
pertinent lyric filled with reminiscence and loss. It is in such
moments as these, that Faithfull's voice cements her place in the hall of
all-time great singers - not for anything bordering on technical
perfection, but for pure, undistilled emotion and raw, unencumbered
beauty. And as she soars through the air above the guitar, piano and
strings, you can't help but soar along with her.
In the opening verses of PJ
Harvey's No Child Of Mine, Faithfull clearly has the upper
hand as she further teases the listener by repeating each line twice -
first in her familiar contralto, and then parroting herself an octave or
more higher. She is clearly having fun with this - which has not
always been apparent on many of her recent recordings. Here she
finds her voice not only as instrument but as jester - and she alone among
modern songstresses has the skill and, frankly, the balls to get away with
it! This is clearly a different sort of Marianne Faithfull
album - though the framework has been solidly built in her works that have
preceded it. And the sudden and complete shift of the initially
somber tune into a frenzied
druid-hippiechick-hand-clapping-dance-around-the-campfire toe-tapper
simply and effectively punctuates the whole affair!
And it is on the title song,
Before The Poison, co-written by Faithfull and Harvey - as well as
the next two numbers - There Is A Ghost and In The
Factory - that Faithfull really winds it out - these are each
slow-burning fire-starters which allow the singer to build momentum into
climactic, broadly brushed finales.
Then, on the stunning Desperanto
- co written by Faithfull and Cave - the album reaches its barnstorming
stomp of a zenith. In a setting equal parts hard rock and club
anthem, the singer raps and breathalyses her way through a crushed
velvet-and-whiskey toned reading of beat-style poetry over pounding drums
and piano, soaring farfisa organ, screaming guitars and a shouting chorus
of thousands. This is the sort of braggadocio for which Faithfull
has earned the right to let loose, and this should easily earn her a
well-deserved place on just about any contemporary radio station's play
list.
And on the closing number, City of Quartz,
we find the singer laying her pipes bare against a backdrop composed only
of ticking clocks and chiming bells. A fitting close, a sweet
goodnight, and a perfect pause to a musical voyage filled with
unembellished yet exotic destinations.
SEE ALSO
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