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+--- Thread: NEW ALBUM: Marianne Faithfull - Negative Capability (/showthread.php?tid=19481)
NEW ALBUM: Marianne Faithfull - Negative Capability - Ruby - 07-11-2018
MARIANNE FAITHFULL - Negative Capability
![[Image: 220px-Marianne_Faithfull_-_Negative_Capability.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/Marianne_Faithfull_-_Negative_Capability.jpg/220px-Marianne_Faithfull_-_Negative_Capability.jpg)
Started listening to this with no expectations whatsoever having not listened to anything much of hers since Broken English (more or less). Well – never mind broken English, Ms Faithfull’s voice is decidedly shot and to my surprise, sucked me right in. I’m not sure whether I would have felt as drawn had she not been who she is – would I have wanted to listen had this been a random older woman with an exceedingly careworn sound? Who can say? And it’s a moot point. I don’t think it’s a great musical masterpiece (although there’s a lovely violin permeating the whole affair, courtesy of Rob Ellis), and she doesn’t actually have a singing voice any more, there are only remnants, however those remnants remain instantly recognisable - her sound could never be mistaken. She revisits “As Tears Go By”, and “Witches Song”, does a rendition of Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”, and holds forth in social commentary on Mark Lanegan’s “They Come at Night”.
Mostly, this seems to be intensely personal. There is something of the tone of Gavin Bryar’s "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet" (sans the naïveté – she’s hardly an unknown tramp after all!), a piece that holds a weird fascination for me; add Nick Cave and Warren Ellis into the mix and at going on 72, Ms Faithfull’s latest release is nothing short of alt and quite sombre which is no surprise given the company and unremitting subject matter. The doyenne image on the album cover is appropriate – this is one direct, gritty lady with a whole lot of living under her belt and what she projects is a combination of pithiness and pathos. I kinda like that she is a crone (and I don't mean that in an insulting way) and is still laying herself bare.
I’d have chosen the same track they did as a single.
RE: NEW ALBUM: Marianne Faithfull - Negative Capability - Jerome - 08-11-2018
Her voice is shot for sure but she still has the ability to pull you in. Great review Ruby.
RE: NEW ALBUM: Marianne Faithfull - Negative Capability - CRAZY-HORSE - 08-11-2018
sure her voice isn't what it once was but I think it is perfect for your linked track Ruby...
I was listening to your linked track and my first thought was...Nick Cave is written all over this one, then I hear him in the backing vocals,
was not surprised to find on Wiki that he wrote it.
I will listen to the whole album over the next couple of days
RE: NEW ALBUM: Marianne Faithfull - Negative Capability - Ruby - 09-11-2018
(08-11-2018, 04:02)Jerome Wrote: Her voice is shot for sure but she still has the ability to pull you in. Great review Ruby.
Thank you Jerome.
RE: NEW ALBUM: Marianne Faithfull - Negative Capability - Ruby - 09-11-2018
(08-11-2018, 08:09)CRAZY-HORSE Wrote: sure her voice isn't what it once was but I think it is perfect for your linked track Ruby...
I was listening to your linked track and my first thought was...Nick Cave is written all over this one, then I hear him in the backing vocals,
was not surprised to find on Wiki that he wrote it.
I will listen to the whole album over the next couple of days
Yes, co-wrote - they've collaborated before. She has co-writing credits on all but two tracks "As Tears Go By" and the Dylan.
And I made a mistake - Rob Ellis is on percussion, Warren on violin/viola. Sorry!! Need to double check these things.
RE: NEW ALBUM: Marianne Faithfull - Negative Capability - Ruby - 09-11-2018
In case anyone is interested, this is the origin of the album title ...
From Wiki ...
"Negative capability was a phrase first used by Romantic poet John Keats in 1817 to characterise the capacity of the greatest writers (particularly Shakespeare) to pursue a vision of artistic beauty even when it leads them into intellectual confusion and uncertainty, as opposed to a preference for philosophical certainty over artistic beauty. The term has been used by poets and philosophers to describe the ability of the individual to perceive, think, and operate beyond any presupposition of a predetermined capacity of the human being."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_capability