Marianne Faithfull has seemingly lived two strange parallel lives. For some people, she’s famous for being famous, having been a part of London’s Swinging ’60s, developing a notorious drug problem, and dating some dude named Mick who was in some band. She was also a singer and performer in her own right, but that got lost in the wave of her notoriety. Faithfull still managed to release records during that time on a fairly steady pace, as well as in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. But it was with the release of live album Blazing Away in the ’90s that she began to reshape the narrative. Since then she’s been slowly recast as a grande dame of British music and has taken part in the type of collaborators that such a position attracts. It’s a network she was able to tap for her latest album, Give My Love to London (Easy Sound), and the record has an impressive credit list: a title track co-written by Steve Earle, a pair of assists from Nick Cave, production by Rob Ellis and Dimitri Tikovoi, and mixing by Flood. It also features a noteworthy roll call of cameos including Adrian Utley (Portishead), Mick Jones, Ed Harcourt, and Warren Ellis and Jim Sclavunos of Cave’s Bad Seeds.

As the 20th album in a 50-year career, Give My Love to London is an interesting moment of reassessment. The record highlights Faithfull’s continued path as an interpreter of songs and as a songwriter. It ties back into her taste for jazz and also draws parallels to Leonard Cohen, who’s 2012 “Going Home” is one of a trio of covers. Like Cohen, the technical prowess of the vocals isn’t as important as the character. Faithfull has long had a voice that invokes the use of phrases like “smoky,” “gritty,” and “lived-in.” Count that recanting as the official re-use of those descriptors with the addition of “and then some.” Faithfull’s voice invokes a a darkened forgotten cabaret setting where every song seems like a story that’s directed just to you. Although it may seem like a minor point, you can’t help but believe Faithfull with every line. The album’s range of emotions goes from heartbreaking to dangerous and from wry to defiant and back again.

Musically, the record is a crazy quilt of sounds and styles that hits on dark orchestral pop, elegant gothic rock, folksy pub romp, and even some knees-up country rock. And there’s an attempt to bring a live feel to the proceeds with a handful of songs that start off with a count-in, giving us the best of both worlds with the polished and the raw in the same breath. It must be said that the production plays to Faithfull’s strengths, and Give My Love to London would be a very different record without that attention to detail. Much like what Jack White did with Wanda Jackson and Loretta Lynn, Ellis goes where Faithfull takes him and doesn’t try to recast her for a new generation. Not every song works the same, but they all feel the same. Give My Love to London is an expertly crafted and executed statement of intent from an artist that has proven to be unsinkable.