Laura Marling Album Review

Laura Marling: “A Creature I Don’t Know”

With a Brit Award and a host of critically acclaimed singles, Laura Marling seems to be at the top of her game. Her latest album certainly seems to suggest as much.

On first listen, you would be forgiven for thinking Marling’s latest single “Sophia” was the forgotten track from her previous album, as amorphous vocals merge with acoustic guitars. But listen closely, and her lyrics will astound. Oscillating between bittersweet sentimentality and provocative expositions, “Sophia”, from new album “A Creature I Don’t Know”, is a sign of what’s to come.

Revealing more about Marling than any interview, “A Creature I Don’t Know” allows the listener to inhabit the world of sex, violence, sadness and wisdom of a singer-songwriter whose quiet assiduity has seen her rise to the upper echelons of the music scene, not a racy newspaper headline in sight.

The album undoubtedly marks a step forward for the young artist who sings with wisdom well beyond her 21 years, as though this milestone birthday initiated a less salubrious approach to song-writing. Gone is the ethereal naivety that linked her to less sophisticated contemporaries Noah and the Whale, and in its place stands an album of quiet toughness. Its mighty centrepiece “The Beast” provides Marling with a vantage point from which she vocalises her desires for a lover as she states ‘Tonight I choose the beast/ tonight he lies with me’. This provocative confidence is present throughout the album, adding depth to even its most light-hearted tunes such as “Don’t Ask Me Why”.

However, while her material may be more assertive, Marling has not forged a melodious path too dangerous for her voice to conquer. In “All My Rage”, for example, she masterfully powers through difficult notes, providing a fitting conclusion to an album that sees the artist push herself further than before. For such a young singer with so much potential, “A Creature I Don’t Know” marks only the progression of her musical talent; a progression that will surely accrue a few more Brit awards along the way.

Sarah Howell