A good choice for our first Stuck In A Groove artist, I first learned of Laura Marling on a recommendation from our blog host Breathmint around the time of her debut album 3 years ago. Her talent was immediately obvious:
Marling’s first two albums (Alas I Cannot Swim & I Speak Because I Can) displayed her ability to write songs and melodies that sounded extremely natural, but were not necessarily simple. Only the best songwriters have that ability, and she was there right away. And her voice! Marling’s sound, while wrapped in an older folk music language, still felt like it was solely her own. She’s not the first folk musician to do these things, but somehow it feels like she is.
Laura Marling – Alpha Shallows
But to top all that off, she’s only 22. She’s still an artist learning, and presumably figuring things out. I was reading an interview with her earlier today and she described her songwriting as “vomiting emotion on to a melody.” But that has to underplay the depths she must go in order to get these songs? Doesn’t it?
But I won’t lie, as much as I enjoy her albums so far, I feel like Marling has yet to do her masterpiece. But anyone who writes songs as good as this one surely will eventually:
Her third album came out just this week and I’m still processing it so I won’t refer to it too much during my Stuck In A Groove posts, but I will say that it contains some subtle changes, and there are a few stunning tracks.