March 5, 2002

Faithfull, Marianne : Kissin' Time

Grand dame of rock seeks ‘young blood’...

7 / 10 Sometimes it takes others to see you better than you see yourself.
The grand dame of depravity wanted to make sure that this (her first album
in three years) wouldn’t miss, so she asked for a little help from her
friends - like Jarvis Cocker - cleverly setting herself
up as the muse to inspire the genius of others.

Of her collaborators, it’s Jarvis who gets a handle
on her best, taking inspiration from her memoirs to construct the no-apologies, quintessentially
Pulp, ‘Sliding...’. Beck
provides the albums most uncomfortable moment -
the flaccid electro-hump of ‘Sex With Strangers’[/url] - and, with the touchingly
reflective 'Like Being Born', one of its best. ‘Song For Nico’, which pays
tribute to another largely tuneless blonde icon, fails to be embarrassing
despite the involvement of Dave Stewart.

In her music, as in her life, everything revolves around sex - but unseemly
as it is for a woman of a certain age to frug bawdily alongside Damon
Albarn[/url], Marianne gets away with it.

April Long