MONTREAL — Marianne Faithfull has been dubbed the Godmother of Goth, an emblem of the night, a doomed romantic and a diva of depression. And she’s pretty tired of it.
She says she’s actually pretty happy.
“I have been for years,” she says with a laugh in a telephone interview from Paris with The Canadian Press.
And she’s hoping her new album Horses and High Heels, which is being released next week, can help put the kibosh on those old images.
“I really got sick of always being thought of as the drama queen, the victim, the tragedy queen thing,” she said in that famous throaty voice.
“I thought, ‘No, this has got to stop.’ ”
Faithfull, 64, has had various incarnations over the years — award-winning singer-songwriter, actress of stage and screen, and stunning beauty.
Don’t forget the rock star girlfriend, most notably Mick Jagger’s. The young mother. And then there’s her dark side — the homeless drug addict in her 30s.
But above all else, the woman who was cemented in many people’s minds with her classic Broken English album is a deeply unconventional scorched-earth singer.
She suggests that some people may have the wrong impression of her when listening to some of her angst-ridden songs.
“Really, it’s just a technical thing. It’s easier to write sad songs than happy ones so I wrote a happy album and changed the rules.”
Faithfull, who has been called one of the most bewitching and unique artists Britain has ever produced, is bringing her new songs and old standards to the Montreal International Jazz Festival on July 4. She will also play Quebec City on July 12.
She described Canadian audiences as “really great” and says she’s looking forward to catching a few shows in Montreal.
Faithfull chuckles slightly when it’s suggested her latest album is an ambitious mix of many types of music including soul, blues, pop rock and jazz.
“Yes, it is,” she says.
The album was put together last September and October in New Orleans and teamed Faithfull with a group of well-known peers and seasoned performers from the local music scene.
“It’s a beautiful place,” she said of New Orleans. “We wanted to tap into the great musicians that are there. We didn’t want to make a New Orleans record as such but we thought the vibe would come through somehow.
“Some great musicians are living there and you can feel it in the record.”
She said it wasn’t hard to get such talents as Lou Reed, Doctor John and Wayne Kramer on board, noting, “They’re friends of mine.”
There’s even a contribution from old friend Brian Jones, the Stones guitarist who drowned in 1969.
“That little sample on Eternity,” she said of one song that features an Arabian jazz flourish recorded by Jones in 1968.
“It seemed like a nice little touch.”
Several aspects of Faithfull’s life are woven throughout the record, such as on Why Did We Have To Part” a breakup song that speaks to her relationships, and on Prussian Blue, which is drawn from her life in Paris.
“It’s all very personal, this record,” she said.