Albums to watch

She Walks in Beauty

Marianne Faithfull

She Walks in Beauty

The latest release from the English singer-songwriter is a spoken word album with musical arrangements by Warren Ellis, Brian Eno, Nick Cave and Vincent Segal

ADM rating[?]

7.6

Label
BMG Rights Management
UK Release date
30/04/2021
US Release date
30/04/2021
  1. 10.0 |   The Independent

    To those familiar with Faithfull’s story, it should come as no surprise that she meets the minds of Keats, Shelley, Byron and co on equal terms
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  2. 9.0 |   musicOMH

    Faithfull’s warm gravelly tone imparts a real fullness to each one. Sonorous and calmly delivered, it’s indeed a surprising joy to let the words wrap around you
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  3. 9.0 |   Clash

    The line “She walks in beauty” opens the album, but is also the takeaway too. Faithfull has lived a full live, filled with love, loss, and redemption, but she has always walked in beauty
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  4. 9.0 |   Crack

    She Walks in Beauty joins the rest of Faithfull’s discography as a culmination of a lifetime of appreciation for both the written word and the sacred space of true artistic partnership. A pen dipped in dark ink, punctuating an unflinchingly unique career
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  5. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    Displays her particular genius
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  6. 8.0 |   All Music

    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
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  7. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Faithfull is on impeccable form in beautiful settings by Ellis of the Romantic poetry beloved of her youth
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  8. 8.0 |   Record Collector

    A record that increasingly rewards with each play, the subtleties and subtext revealed slowly, teased into view by deceptively unobtrusive musical accompaniment.
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  9. 8.0 |   Mojo

    This is music that seems to inhale and exhale around Faithfull, making space for wonder to unfurl without crassly signposting it. Print edition only

  10. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    A love affair with the Romantic poets
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  11. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Her collaborative spoken-word album with the Bad Seeds’ Warren Ellis finds her reciting verses by Keats, Shelley, and Lord Byron, and finding new depth in the words
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  12. 7.0 |   Uncut

    What lingers is that vivid voice. Print edition only

  13. 6.7 |   Pitchfork

    Faithfull pairs her forever-soothing voice with the words of the Romantic poets who inspired her, over tasteful accompaniments from Bad Seeds sonic architect Warren Ellis
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  14. 6.0 |   The Arts Desk

    More likely to soundtrack occasional moments in time rather than to become a turntable regular
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  15. 6.0 |   American Songwriter

    A remarkable recording in more ways than one — indeed, it was recorded while in lockdown after a near-fatal encounter with covid — it finds Faithfull reciting the archaic classical verse penned by revered English romantic poets — Lord Byron, John Keats, William Wordsworth, Thomas Hood, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Alfred Lord Tennyson in particular
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  16. 5.9 |   Spectrum Culture

    The music here might support the literal words, but it misses the spirit of the work
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