Following on from the death of Marianne Faithfull earlier this year, a four track EP Burning Moonlight will be released in time for Record Store Day on April 12. The title track is now available to download and stream.
After its release as a limited-edition vinyl as part of Record Store Day, Burning Moonlight will be available worldwide as a digital EP on June 6. Originally due to be revealed in February as part of the RSD 2025 List, the announcement was put on hold following Marianne’s death on January 30th.
Now, at the request of her family, DECCA Records will proceed with the release of Burning Moonlight as a celebration of Marianne and her extraordinary career.
Her son, Nicholas Dunbar, explains: ‘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. 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.’
The four new recordings are inspired by, and have their creative roots in, Marianne’s first two albums released simultaneously 60 years ago on 15th April 1965. The EP’s executive producer Andrew Batt explains ‘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.‘
Side 1 is a tribute to Marianne’s pop past and opens with the poignant ‘Burning Moonlight’, which is released today. This moving ballad of resilience and acceptance was inspired by the opening line of her debut single ‘As Tears Go By’ (‘It is the evening of the day‘) and is followed by ‘Love Is,’ an uplifting homage to her ‘60s pop sound written with her grandson Oscar Dunbar.
Side 2 of the EP reconnects Marianne to her folk background with ‘Three Kinsmen Bold’, a traditional song learned from her father Glynn Faithfull who had been a formative influence on her folk recordings, and a new interpretation of ‘She Moved Thru’ The Fair’, a song Marianne performed throughout her life, and which she first recorded in 1966.
“It’s a good time to look back,” she said after completing the project “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.”
The EP is produced by Head, with Rob Ellis, Oscar Dunbar and Andrew Batt, and includes specially commissioned artwork by the acclaimed Australian artist David Frazer.
Head first worked with Marianne in 2004 on the album Before The Poison and became a trusted friend and collaborator. “’’m so happy we found a time when Marianne felt able to write and sing again,’ he says. “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.”
The official lyric video for ‘Burning Moonlight’ may be seen below:
