Few artists can create such intimacy as Marianne Faithfull. Like the greatest song interpreters, she has a rare ability to transform any lyric into something compelling an utterly personal. Her music has the texture of autobiography, as though every song has been informed by Marianne's own experiences.

Before The Poison, to be released January 25, 2005, is Mariannes first album since Kissin Time at the start of 2002. The long wait, however, has been utterly vindicated by an album of extraordinary power, fuelled by collaborations with and contributions from such artists as PJ Harvey, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Damon Albarn and film composer Jon Brion. Indeed, this could well be the finest recording in Marianne's long career.

Her story, of course, has been well documented, not least in the Faithfull autobiography published in 1994. Marianne was introduced to the Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham at a London party in 1964. She was then 17-years-old and still at school! Oldham, captivated by the way she looked, offered to make a record with her. A few months later Marianne launched her music career with As Tears Go By, the first song ever written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richard. It was a Top 10 UK hit in August 1964.