Album Review: Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle
by Bill DeVille
May 27, 2013
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23-year-old British songstress Laura Marling, is part of the same nu-folk scene in London that produced Mumford and Sons. In fact, when Laura did an in-studio performance at The Current in 2008, Marcus Mumford and the gang served as her backing band, just before their career hit the stratosphere. Her career isn't doing too bad either: she won Best Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards, and was a nominee in 2012.
Marling's fourth album, Once I Was An Eagle, was expertly produced by Ethan Johns, who is best known for his work with Kings of Leon, Ryan Adams and Ray LaMontagne. It's a wonderful-sounding album, spare and earthy. Songs like "Take the Night Off" and "Devil's Resting Place" have that mystical Eastern feel that Led Zeppelin occasionally incorporated. The latter is so cool it could charm a snake! Most songs feature little more than acoustic guitar, percussion, strings and her effortless voice.
Once I Was An Eagle is an ambitious and sprawling effort clocking in at 63 minutes. The album might be a little long, but it's a joy to listen to. Marling was born to sing. It doesn't hurt that her mother is a music teacher! She sounds like she was schooled in the music of Joni Mitchell and Sandy Denny, and it sounds like her recent move to Los Angeles has rubbed off on her music. She has a little of that Laurel Canyon '70s vibe that artists like Father John Misty and Dawes have incorporated of late. You can hear it all over the organ driven track "Where Can I Go," where she nails the vocal.
Lyrically, Laura Marling seems to write about love and its consequences, and sounds more seasoned in it than your average twenty-something. Her songs often read like poems in a young woman's diary. In "I Was An Eagle," she sings, "When we were in love (if we were)/When we were in love/I was an eagle/And you were a dove," over a jazzy groove. She is an artist who is not afraid to bare her soul.
Laura Marling isn't just another folk singer. She is an artist at the top of her game. Once I Was An Eagle is a beautifully soothing album that will ease your soul after a busy day.