''Kissin Time'' is the 15th studio album by British singer
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...
.
Overview
After turns as a neo-cabaret/slow ballad crooner in previous works (represented by her 1990s works with
Hal Willner
Hal Willner (April 6, 1956 – April 7, 2020) was an American music producer working in recording, films, television, and live events. He was best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical sty ...
,
Angelo Badalamenti
Angelo Daniel Badalamenti (March 22, 1937 – December 11, 2022) was an American composer and arranger best known for his film music, notably the scores for his collaborations with director David Lynch, '' Blue Velvet'' (1986), ''Twin Peaks'' (1 ...
and the interpretation of
Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a ...
/
Weill standards), Faithfull was eager to collaborate with contemporary musicians. She co-wrote almost all the songs, and worked with several notable musicians who produced the tracks.
The song "Kissin Time" is the result of a collaboration between her and
Blur, and is, according to Faithfull, "sort of about
Damon (Albarn) and sort of about me."
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...
, who worked with her in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, is responsible for the tracks "Sex With Strangers", "Like Being Born" and "Nobody's Fault". While the first one is an electro-funk
sprechstimme
(, "spoken singing") and (, "spoken voice"), more commonly known as speak-singing in English, are expressionist musical vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, is directly related to the operatic re ...
track, influenced by
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...
and Beck's ''
Midnite Vultures
''Midnite Vultures'' is the seventh studio album by American musician Beck, released on November 16, 1999, by DGC Records. While similar to most of Beck's previous albums in its exploration of widely varying styles, it did not achieve the same bl ...
'', the other two tend to a more folk/country/
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...
path. 'Nobody's Fault' previously appeared on Beck's album ''
Mutations
In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitosi ...
'' under the title "
Nobody's Fault but My Own
"Nobody's Fault but My Own" is a song by American musician Beck. The song was released in 1998 on his album ''Mutations'', and was released as a single in Japan only on April 21, 1999. The CD single came backed with the exclusive tracks "One of Th ...
" in 1999. Beck's collaborations were co-produced by Tony Hoffer.
"The Pleasure Song", which was included on the soundtrack of the cable television series ''
The L Word
''The L Word'' is a television drama series that aired on Showtime in the United States from 2004 to 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated wit ...
'', was written in Paris with Les Valentines (the duo Edith Fambuena and Jean Louis Pierot) and French singer
Étienne Daho
Étienne Daho (; ; born 14 January 1956) is a French singer-songwriter. He has released a number of synth-driven and rock- surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981.
Career
Daho was born in Oran, French Algeria. He sings in a low, whispery vo ...
.
Billy Corgan
William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...
contributed to three songs: the reworking of the 1960s
Goffin/
King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
success "Something Good", the hymnal and synth-layered "I'm On Fire", and the reflective acoustic pop of "Wherever I Go", about which Faithfull declared "that's Billy trying to sit down and write Marianne a hit."
The "Song For
Nico
Christa Päffgen (; 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988), known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress, and model.
Nico had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's '' La Dolce Vita'' (1960) and Andy Warhol's ...
" was written by Faithfull and
Dave Stewart after reading a biography of the German singer/songwriter/actress/model, who Faithfull identified with even though, as she said, "Nico had tremendous injustice in her life, and I've had tremendous luck." The singer also declared that this tune "is one of the best things I've ever written."
About the biographical "Sliding Through Life on Charm", Faithfull said, "I'd been trying to write this song for 20 years, always getting stuck because I couldn't find a fucking rhyme. And I thought, when I see that
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...
— so I grabbed him in this television studio one day and said 'Now, look, I want you to take this title and go and write a song from it'. And off he went. And then he took another year and a half before I got it — and then it took another year and a half before I understood it enough to record it."
Track listing
Production credits
*Marianne Faithfull - vocals, backing vocals, synthesizer, percussion, hand-clapping
*
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...
- producer, programming, guitar, synthesizer, percussion, backing vocals
*Tony Hoffer - producer, programming, engineer, mixing
*Justin Meldal-Johnsen - bass on
"Sex With Strangers"
*
Jon Brion
Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and The Grays (band), the Grays before becoming an established pro ...
- celeste, drums, Chamberlain, harmonium
*
Smokey Hormel
Smokey Hormel (born circa 1959)Cohen (2017) quotes Hormel as saying he was "4 or 5 ears old when "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles was "a big hit on the radio"; the song was released in America in December 1963. is an American guitarist ...
- guitar
*
Étienne Daho
Étienne Daho (; ; born 14 January 1956) is a French singer-songwriter. He has released a number of synth-driven and rock- surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981.
Career
Daho was born in Oran, French Algeria. He sings in a low, whispery vo ...
- producer
*Edith Fambuena - producer, guitar
*Jean Louis Pierot - producer, keyboards
*
David A. Stewart
David Allan Stewart (born 9 September 1952) is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for Eurythmics, his successful professional partnership with Annie Lennox. Sometimes credited as David A. Stewart, he won Best British ...
- producer, bass, guitar
*
Billy Corgan
William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...
- producer, bass, guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals, engineer, mixing
*
Shawn Christopher
Shawn Christopher is an American house music singer from Chicago, Illinois.
Career
She was a touring backing vocalist for R&B singer Chaka Khan from 1982 to 1985. She was also a member of the industrial dance band known as My Life with the ...
- backing vocals on
"I'm On Fire"
*Paris Delane - backing vocals on
"I'm On Fire"
*Matt Walker - drums
*Ben Hillier - producer, engineer, mixing, hand-clapping
*
Barry Reynolds
Barry Reynolds (born 27 October 1949, in Bolton, Lancashire) is a British guitar player, songwriter, composer and producer, best known for his long-lasting collaboration with Marianne Faithfull.
Reynolds first emerged with the band TTPS://www. ...
- producer, bass, guitar, programming, mixing
*Ned Douglas - keyboards, programming
*Mark Price - drums
*Bertrand "Mako" Blais - programming
*Gavin Skinner - drums
*
Blur:
**
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...
- guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, hand-clapping
**
Graham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Coxon is featured on all of Blur' ...
- guitar
**
Alex James - bass, hand-clapping
**
Dave Rowntree
David Alexander De Horne Rowntree (born 8 May 1964) is an English musician, politician, solicitor, composer and animator. He is best known as the drummer for the rock band Blur (band), Blur.
In his political career, Rowntree served on the Norf ...
- drums, hand-clapping
*
Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
* Pulp (band), an English rock band
Engineering
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
...
:
**
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...
- producer, keyboards
**
Steve Mackey
Stephen Patrick Mackey (10 November 1966 – 2 March 2023) was an English musician and record producer best known as the bass guitarist for the Britpop band Pulp, which he joined in 1989. As a record producer, he produced songs and albums by ...
- producer, bass
**
Mark Webber - guitar
**
Nick Banks
Nicholas David Banks (born 28 July 1965) is an English drummer, a member of the British band Pulp. He lives in Sheffield with his wife Sarah and two children. He is the nephew of Gordon Banks, goalkeeper of the 1966 FIFA World Cup-winning Eng ...
- drums
;Technical
*Howard Willing - pre-production
*Clive Goddard - engineer, mixing
*
Bjorn Thorsrud
Bjorn Thorsrud (October 7, 1963 – October 19, 2021) was an American music producer, programmer, and audio engineer who produced film scores and albums for rock and pop artists.
He also engineered, mixed, or contributed production or programmi ...
- engineer, mixing
*Nick Addison - engineer
*Jean-Paul Gonnod - engineer
*Chris Potter - engineer
*
Howie Weinberg
Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer. Over the course of his career, he has received over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize.
Career
Weinberg mastered Herbie Ha ...
- mastering
*Tim Young - mastering
*
Nick Knight - photography
*Paul Hetherington - graphic design, art direction, design
*Howard Wakefield - graphic design
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2003 albums
Marianne Faithfull albums
Albums produced by Dave Stewart (Eurythmics)