Stream Marianne Faithfull’s New Album Negative Capability
At 71, the singer-songwriter legend Marianne Faithfull has been recording for over 50 years. Rightfully so, her 21st album Negative Capability is a reflection on loss and loneliness and love.
It’s the first proper full-length from the British star since 2014’s Give My Love To London, and it features guest spots from Nick Cave, Ed Harcourt and Screaming Trees founder Mark Lanegan as well as production from PJ Harvey producer and longtime collaborator Rob Ellis and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds member Warren Ellis.
Back in September, Faithfull shared the beautiful folk-rock lead single “The Gypsy Faerie Queen,” and today, the entire album is out and available to stream.
There’s a state of total honestly that seems to settle its way into late-life works, like Leonard Cohen’s You Want It Darker or Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt.” Negative Capability harnesses the same transparency. Faithfull is calm and wise and sensitive as she mourns her past life, past relationships, and her current pain. “Born To Live” is a tribute to a friend passed, but the song also finds her exploring her own death and praying for a good one. And her revisitation of the Rolling Stones-composed “As Tears Go By,” the hit that originally gained her popularity in the 60s, feels full circle.
Stream Negative Capability below.
Negative Capability is out now on BMG.