Marianne Faithful – Give My Love To London (Red Vinyl)

Faithfull’s previous four albums in the 21st century have all been strong, but this one tops them. Her writing collaborators here include Nick Cave, Anna Calvi, Ed Harcourt, Patrick Leonard, and Tom McRae. Her bandmates are an all-star unit too, and include Harcourt, Adrian Utley, Dimitri Tikovoi, Rob and Warren Ellis, and strings. Cave co-wrote one song with her (the tender “Deep Water”) and one for her: the glorious “Late Victorian Holocaust,” the album’s hinge piece. Give My Love to London is as complete a portrait of the artist – at least from the late ’70s on – as we’ve ever had. In total, it reveals no abatement in her creative renaissance. This reissue is a special one with a red coloured 180g vinyl edition, housed in a gatefold sleeve.