From the belle of '60s London to weathered postpunk princess to postmodern chanteuse and onward, Marianne Faithfull has proved two things: she's adaptable and a survivor. Sparked by Faithfull's glowingly received contribution to Hal Willner's 1985 Kurt Weill tribute, Lost in the Stars, Weather takes up where Stars left off. Here Willner and Faithfull take a torch to an off-kilter but inspired collection of tunes, including Leadbelly's "I Ain't Goin' Down to the Well No More," Bob Dylan's obscure "I'll Keep It with Mine" (penned for another smoky-voiced rock chanteuse, Nico), and the standards "Yesterdays" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." The producer enfolds Faithfull's ravaged-but-right vocals in a cozy soundscape that perfectly suits the misty mood of this unified, insular song cycle. --Steven Stolder