Horses and High Heels


Horses and High Heels is the 18th studio album release by British singer Marianne Faithfull. The 13-track album was released on 31 January 2011 in continental Europe and on 7 March 2011 in the UK on the Dramatico record label. It was released in the United States on 28 June 2011 via the French Naïve Records label.
"Why Did We Have to Part?" was released as a single from the album.

Background and context

Recorded in New Orleans at Piety Street Recording in the Bywater in September and October 2010, the album features cover versions of 1960s classics and seven new songs, four of which were co-written by Faithfull herself. One of the new songs, "The Old House", was specially written for her by Irish playwright Frank McGuiness. There are two cameo appearances on guitar from Lou Reed with further cameos from Dr. John and MC5's Wayne Kramer. The album was produced by long-term collaborator Hal Willner.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone gave the album a three-star rating, stating it is "heavy with lost love and Faithfull's honey-over-gravel voice."

Track listing

  1. "The Stations" – 4:24
  2. "Why Did We Have To Part" – 3:45
  3. "That’s How Every Empire Falls" – 5:51
  4. "No Reason" – 2:51
  5. "Prussian Blue" – 5:03
  6. "Love Song" – 4:37
  7. "Gee Baby" – 2:49
  8. "Goin' Back" – 3:41
  9. "Past Present and Future" – 2:46
  10. "Horses and High Heels" – 3:52
  11. "Back in Baby’s Arms" – 4:19
  12. "Eternity" – 4:03
  13. "The Old House" – 4:04
Bonus tracks on the vinyl edition:
  1. "Fragile Weapon"
  2. "I Don´t Wanna Know"

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart68
Dutch Mega Albums Chart78
French Albums Chart37
Swedish Albums Chart34
Swiss Albums Chart26
UK Independent Albums 16
UK Jazz & Blues Albums 6

In 2011 it was awarded a double silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 40,000 copies throughout Europe.