Negative Capability (Album)

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Negative capability
Studio album by Marianne Faithfull

Publication
(s)

2nd November 2018

Label (s) Panta Rei , BMG

Format (s)

Download, CD, vinyl

Genre (s)

Folk

Title (number)

10/13

running time

42:30 / 52:22

occupation
  • Singing: Marianne Faithfull

production

Rob Ellis , Warren Ellis and Howard Bullivant

chronology
No exit Negative capability -
Single release
September 14, 2018 The Gypsy Faerie Queen

Negative Capability is the twenty-first studio album by British singer-songwriter Marianne Faithfull . It was released on November 2, 2018.

backgrounds

When Negative Capability came out , Marianne Faithfull was 71 years old and suffering from severe health problems; so she had to have her hip replaced , among other things . The singer herself described the album as her "most honest", because she had previously always tried to "mask her true self" in her works, which she now largely failed to do. On the record she partly deals with the difficult circumstances and events of her life. For example, the musician dedicated the songs Don't Go and Born to Live to her late friends Martin Stone and Anita Pallenberg . She emphasized here explicitly that she did not write the titles as an aid to coping with death, but for the dead themselves, because she loved them. In addition to Faithfull, Ed Harcourt , Sivert Høyem , Rob McVey , Nick Cave , Warren Ellis and Mark Lanegan also appear as authors of the new material; Faithfull had already interpreted the three songs As Tears Go By , It's All Over Now, Baby Blue and Witches' Song earlier in her career and now sung them again. The second mentioned is a cover version of the Bob Dylan song of the same name , while the bonus track Loneliest Person is a new recording of The Pretty Things track . Rob Ellis , Warren Ellis and Howard Bullivant produced all of the titles. Warren Ellis found it particularly moving to have worked on Nick Cave's album Skeleton Tree , which he recorded after his son's death, and Negative Capability . He called the experience "life changing".

The work appeared in two versions. The Standard Edition contains ten tracks, while the Deluxe Edition contains an additional song and two alternative versions of album tracks.

As the only single of Negative Capability was The Gypsy Faerie Queen decoupled. Although this was not a commercial success worldwide, it received positive reviews and was crowned the third best song of 2018 by laut.de magazine .

Music and lyrics

Negative capability can be largely assigned to the folk genre . The background music consists of traditional, natural instruments , including mainly guitars , strings , drums , bass and piano . Marianne Faithfull's voice is not processed with effects on any of the songs; Incorrectly sung passages were kept unchanged in the finished versions. The lyrics of the album revolve around fallible uniqueness , the death of friends , William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream or the terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015 in Paris .

Cover design

The cover artwork for Negative Capability shows Marianne Faithfull standing in front of a plain white background, leaning on a dark walking stick with a gold handle . She wears a light blue blouse with an orange scarf wrapped around it. Her wrist is adorned with a gold bracelet and she wears a finger ring . In the upper left corner of the motif is the name of the artist in small black letters, in the right the album title in the same color, size and font.

Track list

Standard Edition 
No. title length
1. Misunderstanding 4:04
2. The Gypsy Faerie Queen (feat. Nick Cave ) 3:40
3. As Tears Go By 3:52
4th In My Own Particular Way 4:21
5. Born to Live 3:39
6th Witches' song 4:57
7th It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 5:01
8th. They come at night 3:40
9. Don't go 4:20
10. No moon in Paris 4:56
Deluxe Edition 
No. title length
1. Misunderstanding 4:04
2. The Gypsy Faerie Queen (feat. Nick Cave ) 3:40
3. As Tears Go By 3:52
4th In My Own Particular Way 4:21
5. Born to Live 3:39
6th Witches' song 4:57
7th It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 5:01
8th. They come at night 3:40
9. Don't go 4:20
10. No moon in Paris 4:56
11. Loneliest person 2:52
12. No Moon in Paris (Edit Version) 3:26
13. They Come at Night (Alternative Version) 3:36

criticism

Negative Capability received positive reviews. While the majority of the English-speaking media rated the work as good, the reviews in German-speaking countries in particular were sometimes downright euphoric. The raw intensity of the album, which would be evoked by the fragile voice of the singer, and the maturity and life experience that the musician brought with her, were praised. It was agreed that the record, in its songwriting and performance, would capture the difficult life of Marianne Faithfull, as well as her struggle with aging and her health problems. Several reviews highlighted the new addition of the title As Tears Go By , which shows how much the artist has developed over the years.

Laut.de magazine listed the work among the best albums of 2018 at number 27.

success

Negative Capability was a moderate commercial success around the world and was able to position itself in several charts, but not in the top ten in any country. The album was most successful in Belgium , where it managed to climb to number 12 in the charts. In Faithfull's homeland, the United Kingdom , the album only landed at number 44 in comparison. In Germany , Austria and Switzerland , sales were enough for positions 27, 20 and 14. In the USA the work could not prove itself in the charts.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ album. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  2. ^ The Guardian Interview. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  3. ^ Rolling Stone interview. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Album credits. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Standard Edition. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Deluxe Edition. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  7. ↑ The Gypsy Faerie Queen single. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  8. ↑ The Gypsy Faerie Queen review by Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  9. ↑ The Gypsy Faerie Queen review by Sounds and Books. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Laut.de's "Best of 2018" song list. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  11. ↑ In My Own Particular Way Lyrics. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Do Not Go lyrics. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  13. ↑ The Gypsy Faerie Queen lyrics. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  14. ↑ They Come at Night Lyrics. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  15. ↑ album cover. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  16. ^ Rolling Stone review. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  17. ^ AllMusic review. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  18. ↑ The Guardian Review. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  19. ^ Pitchfork criticism. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  20. ^ NME criticism. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  21. ^ Laut.de criticism. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  22. ^ Falter criticism. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  23. ↑ Disc reviews criticism. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  24. ↑ Small newspaper review. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  25. ↑ The Standard Review. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  26. ↑ n-tv review. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Laut.de's "Best of 2018" album list. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  28. ↑ Charts. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  29. ↑ UK charts. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .