Over the past five years, English musician Laura Marling has established a body of work that seems almost impossibly consistent and on point. At 23 years of age, Marling has already released her fourth studio album, and along this brief but prolific journey, she hasn’t yet taken a wrong step. If anything, the fourth stride in her blossoming career shows the songwriter reaching another level of subtle, deep, impressionable and moving musicianship.
Removing the full band sound and significantly stripping down Once I Was An Eagle might be viewed as slightly risky, but the move has paid off enormously. Working once again with Ethan Jones, Marling has essentially reduced her latest release to just her hushed, intimate voice, guitar, percussion, piano and cello courtesy of Ruth de Turberville. Not too much to work with, but what she manages to squeeze out of these components is nothing short of gorgeous.
Though technically not a concept album, Once I Was An Eagle has a thematic core at its heart. Taking the guise of a somewhat loose, fluid narrative figure, Marling begins the record as a hard-shelled, protective and somewhat prickly cynic when it comes to love. Palming aside the sweet and saccharine notions of amorous mass perception, her songwriting style, lyricism and demeanor project her as a head strong and fiercely independent woman — one with incredibly unbridled wisdom for her young and tender age. As the album expands, though, prying itself away from the darker tones and shifting up the musical scale, Laura finds herself becoming significantly warmer to the possibilities of love and the accompanying joyful naivety. Very seldom do you hear a songwriter grow and develop in such a small space like this, but this album shows a truly gifted talent providing a striking contrast through masterfully crafted, yet gloriously subtle progressions.
What distinguishes a good songwriter from a truly great songwriter isn’t just the ability to weave their own personal experiences and storytelling techniques — it’s the ability to bind this shared meaning and emotional tie to music strong enough to support the weight. With a hearty mix of her folksy/country roots combined with a sprinkling of dark chamber music, flamenco and jazz influences, Marling not only merges both music and words together magnificently, but provides another example of why she’s one of the best in her field.
