Four songs Marianne Faithfull was working on before death in January have been collected on a new EP, Burning Moonlight, out June 6 via Decca. In a press release, Faithfull is quoted on the project. “It’s a good time to look back,” she said. “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.” Listen to the title track below.
The EP was intended to serve as a sort of bookend to her career. Says executive producer Andrew Batt in a press release, “It was so unusual to start your career this way, so we decided to bring the music full circle. One side of the EP would be inspired by her debut pop LP Marianne Faithfull while the flip would honour her folk roots on Come My Way.”
Head, who produced the EP alongside Rob Ellis, Oscar Dunbar, and Andrew Batt, added, “I’m so happy we found a time when Marianne felt able to write and sing again. When she asked me to produce these songs, we were all aware that her health had made things difficult but, in true Marianne fashion, she persevered, and I think we were able to go in a new direction again—something she always tried to push herself to do throughout her long career.”
Faithfull’s son, Nicholas Dunbar, gave the family’s approval to the release. “As we grieve the loss of Marianne, we are pleased to announce the release of these songs which she worked on during the year before her death,” Dunbar wrote. “Marianne lived to create and perform music—it was her driving force and she never stopped. Right up until the end she was looking forward to this release which now completes and celebrates her remarkable artistic career.”