She Walks in Beauty is a loving testimony to the power and lasting vigor of the Romantic poets, and also a reminder of how lucky we are to have an artist as gifted as Marianne Faithfull giving us this remarkable tutorial.
She Walks In Beauty emerges as an atmospheric collection rich in nuance and detail. The grandeur of Faithfull’s elegantly dramatic voice is brilliantly served by her now regular collaborator Warren Ellis’ evocative soundscapes.
She Walks in Beauty has Faithfull’s voice underpinned and complemented with birdsong, sounds of the sea and electronics that seem to glow, a recurrent musical motif, with Ellis’s version of musique concrète.
She Walks in Beauty is best taken in small doses to appreciate its majesty.
Guests Brian Eno, Nick Cave (on pellucid piano) and cellist Vincent Ségal add further depth to arrangements that never intrude, yet are nonetheless striking. What lingers is that vivid voice, as heroically time-worn as the effigy of Shelley’s “Ozymandias”.
The ceaseless lull of her voice accounts for the record’s ambient feel, but it also makes She Walks in Beauty seem like an actual poetry reading that drags on for a quarter hour too long.
All told, She Walks In Beauty proves a surreal stroll indeed.
She Walks in Beauty - 3/5
The Bridge of Sighs - 3/5
La Belle Dame sans Merci - 2/5
Ode to a Nightingale - 2/5
To Autumn - 3/5
Ozymandias - 3/5
The Prelude: Book One Introduction - 3/5
Surprised by Joy - 3/5
To the Moon - 3/5
So We'll Go No More a Roving - 3/5
The Lady of Shallot - 2/5
Marianne Faithfull with Warren Ellis - She Walks in Beauty (with Warren Ellis)
Genre: Poetry
Country:
Final Verdict: 61% (Good Album)
Yearly Ranking: 183th / 391
Highlight: She Walks in Beauty (with Warren Ellis)
Made me think of:
Kate Tempest
1 | She Walks in Beauty 2:37 | |
2 | The Bridge of Sighs 4:55 | |
3 | La Belle Dame sans Merci 4:15 | |
4 | Ode to a Nightingale 6:49 | |
5 | To Autumn 3:16 | |
6 | Ozymandias 3:08 | |
7 | The Prelude: Book One Introduction 2:50 | |
8 | Surprised by Joy 2:08 | |
9 | To the Moon 2:21 | |
10 | So We'll Go No More a Roving 2:20 | |
11 | The Lady of Shallot 11:46 |
#72 | / | Uncut |