We have been getting quite a few of them lately. These last albums. These final cuts. From David Bowie to Leonard Cohen to Spiritualized (although I shouldn't be putting them on this list), great artists have been putting out records which they knew, or believed they knew, would be their final statements. There's a certain kind of defiance about these albums, and an air of resignation that hovers above the guitar chords that seem too well informed.
Negative Capability by Marianne Faithfull is another such record. I do not want to be cynical, and God knows I would give a lot to have a new Marianne Faithfull LP every year until the end of times, but what is there to say really? When she chooses to rerecord "As Tears Go By". When she does "Witches Song" once again. When it all ends with the kind of all-encompassing sadness that offers fuck-all, hope-wise.
But what a record this is. There's a great interview with Nick Cave (who contributed a song as well as backing vocals to Negative Capability) where Marianne Faithfull states quite bluntly that she doesn't hear albums like this any more. What sort of albums, you might wonder? Well, classic Faithfull albums, of course: raw, emotional, subdued and savagely intense.
Speaking of Nick Cave, there really should not be a limit to your love for the great Australian. For he contributed not just the best song of the album but the best song of Marianne Faithfull's career. "The Gypsy Faerie Queen", a song he could have easily kept for himself (in fact, I can very much imagine him singing it), is an absolute timeless classic. The melody is breathtaking, the lyrics are inspirational, and the rough-sensual vocal delivery will reduce you to bits. Currently, I don't know another song from 2018 that would even come close.
Elsewhere, it's well-chosen covers (both high-profile, like "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", and relatively obscure, like the closing "Loneliest Person" lifted from The Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow) and smart originals (my favourite is the brutal, heartbreaking "Don't Go" about the death of a friend). And it's of course beautifully augmented by the irreproachable violin of Warren Ellis who was also this album's producer.
I know the word 'special' has been greatly devalued by people brandishing it every moment that they are slightly surprised or mildly amused. But Negative Capability is special down to its last drop. It's the epitome of 'special'. Christ, it's what 'special' should aspire to be.
