A Secret Life (album)

A Secret Life
Studio album by
Released21 March 1995 (1995-03-21)
Recorded1994
Studio
  • Excalibur Sound
  • National/Edison Recording Studio
  • (New York City, New York)
Genre
Length35:00
LabelIsland
ProducerAngelo Badalamenti
Marianne Faithfull chronology
Blazing Away
(1990)
A Secret Life
(1995)
20th Century Blues
(1997)
Singles from A Secret Life
  1. "Bored by Dreams"
    Released: 1995

A Secret Life is the twelfth studio album by English singer Marianne Faithfull. It was released on 21 March 1995 by Island Records. The album marked her first studio release composed mostly of original material in over a decade. Faithfull collaborated with American composer Angelo Badalamenti after his work on the television series Twin Peaks. Influenced by her interest in classical music, A Secret Life was a musical departure from her previous work and displayed a more tender side to her voice.

Faithfull also worked with Irish poet and her longtime friend Frank McGuinness and used some of his poems in the songs "Sleep" and "The Wedding". Musically, A Secret Life is an alternative rock album which was inspired by classical music and also incorporates elements of blues. The songs deal with themes such as broken relationship on "She" or secret love affair on "Love in the Afternoon".

A Secret Life received mixed reviews from music critics. Released only months after her successful autobiography Faithfull: An Autobiography and compilation album Faithfull: A Collection of Her Best Recordings (1994), the album was a commercial failure. "Bored by Dreams" was the only single released from the album and also failed to chart.