Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle

This week, Laura Marling released her fourth studio album Once I Was An Eagle, featuring singles Where Can I Go? and Master Hunter. Marling started off, as apparently all great female singer songwriters do, by singing back up for Noah And The Whale on their first album Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down. She can be heard gleefully screeching out the chorus for 5 Years Time in a slightly mockney accent. She notoriously broke Charlie Fink's heart and then, at the tender age of 18, embarked on her first album Alas I Cannot Swim. Comparing those two albums, it's easy to see how much she's matured. Gone is the mockney accent and the blond hair cut into a bob. Now she's the established darling of the folk world, and she holds a place dear to the hearts of many people all over the world.

Comparing the vocals on Ghosts with those on Breathe, there is no doubt as to how much more skilled they've become. The gently quivering vibrato is constantly present throughout the album, making it distinctly Marling. The beauty of the long, extended "breathe" is undeniable.

The thing that really makes this album stand out among her other material is that it's not influenced solely by folk. In Little Love Caster, there is definitely a hint of flamenco to the simplistic guitar accompaniment, and the organ on Once could almost have been sampled from an early Sam Cooke or Curtis Mayfield recording. That's all they are though - influences. Laura Marling takes the little bits that she likes and twists them so that they become new again. Just one of her many talents.

At an epic 16 songs, Once I Was An Eagle is truly a testament to how far Laura Marling has come since the days of Charlie Fink. Granted, there was heartbreak both ways, but neither have seemingly been able to overcome it until their most recent albums. In When Where You Happy? (And How Long Has That Been) finally seems to have done it, asking "hey there, new friend across the sea, if you figure things out will you figure in me?" This plaintive request for love is made even more beautiful by the syrupy, low vocals. When she gets to the chorus, she seems to ask it of herself, not this new friend. Throughout the song she struggles through the expectations of her and the limitations these have placed upon her; particularly poignant is the lyric "my vote was never counted, so who upon this earth knows what it is I believe?"

The move to LA seems to have benefited Marling a great deal, especially in Master Hunter and Where Can I Go? The laid back attitude of the land of Hollywood seems to have seeped into her music, as these two songs are definitely much more relaxed than, for example, You Only Doll (Dora). On Master Hunter, Marling lapses into a lovely, lilting style of talk-singing at certain moments that hints at a watered-down Lou Reed.  Where Can I Go? is much more typical mid-west kind of folk, with typical lines such as "I was a daddy's girl sometime but I loved my mama til the end of the line", which harks back to songs like Salinas. The way that she makes her troubles seem so attractive by putting them to a catchy guitar line and adding a bit of tambourine is exactly what I love about her. The casual way that she throws in "it's no fucking life that I would choose" in Master Hunter, and "I feel like I'm better fucked than won" in Where Can I Go? only pleads her cause even further, because, horror of horrors, she can swear in a folk song. And make it work.

It's official: Laura Marling has actually done it. She's made an album that surpasses all else she's done. And for Laura Marling, that's a feat in itself.

Rating: 10/10

Recommended Tracks:
Too many to choose, but Once
Take The Night Off
Saved These Words