Marianne Faithfull – ‘Burning Moonlight’ EP review: A blissful period of reflection
“Walking in fire is my life,” Marianne Faithfull sings at the start of her new EP, Burning Moonlight. It’s got the same kind of weathered energy you might find at the start of ‘Broken English’, but this time it’s filled with all the times she put her heart on the line for the greater good, as well as the unrelenting surge to never stop, to never stop trying, and to push on outside of expectation. As she once said: “I’m not any era. I just go on and on.”
It’s hard to imagine ever thinking of some of music’s most defining moments without the presence of Faithfull, etched like a true mainstay of rock and someone whose battle knew no ending. Beyond the impressive achievements and associations with some of the biggest names, that’s exactly what Faithfull’s story was all about: perseverance. She had the kind of story that proved the necessity of tragedy in art, using heartache and heartbreak as a motivator for pushing through.
These four new songs might seem unusual upon first listen, but the seemingly dramatic blend of debut album and folk roots seems to pull at all sides of Faithfull’s storied career, allowing you to fill in the blanks where necessary in a way that captures it all without too much vagueness. “It’s a good time to look back,” she said of the EP. “It helps me to remember all the things I’ve done. I can’t say I’m a particularly nostalgic person, but I am enjoying this period of reflection.”
That’s exactly where Burning Moonlight begins. The title track begins wistfully, starting the album on a beautiful note of nostalgia, as Faithfull sings, “It’s just the sort of mood I’m in/ Burning moonlight, like fire, like food/ Think about it as hard as you can.” That first line—”it’s just the sort of mood I’m in”—feels especially poignant, in the kind of way that almost makes you think, “Huh? Me too,” like thinking of your life and what it all means, and how it’s all changed, while also remaining the same.
There’s also the familiar comfort to Faithfull’s voice that feels like an old friend, though this is probably actually more prominent on the following track, ‘Love Is’, which talks about everything love could or should be, and how much it often feels like it’s this unknown thing that comes and goes, when really it’s always within, it’s what we make of it. As she sings: “Love is never easy / It’s not what we expected / But your love does please me / And we are connected.”
It also has the kind of simplicity that Faithfull toyed with throughout her entire career, with a topic that usually feels just as simple sometimes, even if it’s “never easy”. In Faithfull’s life, love always seemed a sort of source of chaos, especially when looking at some of her more famous associations, like Mick Jagger. But when you hear these insights in her music, the ones that talk about love as if it’s there to make of what you will, it usually seems more tender, like her words come from a weathered heart, tired and soft after years of misuse.
On Burning Moonlight, this tenderness shifts with ‘Three Kinsmen Bold’ and ‘She Moved Thru The Fair’. One passed on from her father and another that became a live staple, this jump to another time hits all the markers of Faithfull’s appeal, from emotional delicacy to folkish storytelling, like a blissful flash of everything she ever did in her life, along with all the times she felt her heart breaking, and all the times thereafter that she tried to piece it back together again.
But this is never as tragic as that; this is bittersweet, a lesson in sticking at it, even when everything falls apart. These songs show off the kind of love that lingers even when it’s not felt, or the warmth of holding yourself when there’s no one else. It’s looking back at your past selves and thanking them for holding out, because all of life’s beauty is anything but singular. It’s Faithfull’s voice in ‘Love Is’ when she sings: “I have been so lucky most of the time.”
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