From wispy ’60s pop chanteuse to melancholy new-wave observer to
world-weary techno-cabaret singer, Marianne Faithfull has survived and
thrived in high style on her own terms. Her dark, dusky voice bears all
the scars of her early dissipated path, and she continues to use her
remarkable instrument in combination with an almost supernatural
ability to inhabit the work of any songwriter. Faithfull’s 22nd album,
Easy Come Easy Go, is a covers record, following 2005’s
Before the Poison, her brilliant collaboration with Nick Cave,
PJ Harvey and Jon Brion. With longtime producer/collaborator Hal
Willner and a who’s-who guest list, Faithfull tackles a typically broad
range of material — from the smoky shiver of Billie Holiday’s
“Solitude” to her wonderfully twisted take on Smokey Robinson’s “Ooh
Baby Baby,” a duet with the otherworldly Antony Hegarty. Just as
typically, Faithfull’s high points are numerous, from a jazzy spin on
Dolly Parton’s “Down From Dover” to a blazing version of the
Decemberists’ “The Crane Wife 3” with old pal Nick Cave to the
authentic ’20s blues on the Bessie Smith title track. Two standouts
deserve attention. Faithfull absolutely owns Neko Case’s “Hold On Hold
On,” a song Case could have written about Faithfull (“In the end, I was
a mean girl/Or somebody’s in-between girl/And it’s the devil I love/And
that’s as funny as real love”) and her achingly stripped-down take on
Merle Haggard’s death-row ode “Sing Me Back Home,” a poignant duet with
one-time paramour Keith Richards. Easy Come Easy Go showcases
Faithfull’s talent for living in a perfect musical moment that channels
the past without dwelling on it and looking to the future with hope,
not envy. — Baker
This article appears in Mar 25-31, 2009.
