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| Track List: 1. Ghosts 2. Old Stone 3. Tap At My Window 4. Failure 5. You're No God 6. Cross Your Fingers 7. Crawled Out Of The Sea (Interlude) 8. My Manic And I 9. Night Terror 10. The Captain And The Hourglass 11. Shine 12. Your Only Doll (Dora) Running time: 38 minutes Released: 2008 |
I know why I bought this; I know what I thought about her as a performer at the time and I know how that opinion changed when I saw her perform a few years later. Laura Marling's debut album was highly acclaimed, I seem to recall a particular piece on the BBC's Culture Show about Marling and one other young folksy Brit (whose name escapes me now) leading me to buy this in investigatory manner.
And then seeing a very nervous performance somewhere (she was very young at the time) and becoming disinterested. Yet somehow I still picked up a couple more albums before seeing her at - I think - End of the Road as a much more confident performer. I have never really revisited the recorded material though. I guess I start now.
Within the first minute I am reminded of a feature of Marling's (early) songs - the same track can feel very different in tone. I quite like this effect and Ghosts has a simple charm about it. Reasonable tempo, decent lyrics and simple but effective accompaniment. I am not sure about her voice; there is a vulnerability there that may be young artist debut syndrome and whilst it adds a charm in some respects I think it leaves me with the impression that the songs could be a bit bolder.
My impression now - up to Failure - is, I think, more favourable than it was. I am appreciating the uncomplicated melodies and the very pleasant string arrangements. I am less taken with the songs themselves, but then again as I have said before I am likely missing a lot of the lyrics, and not having listened to them enough to learn them. I am quite taken with the higher tempo of You're No God though - one I do recognise.
It is easy to modulate our opinions based on information - to bring the artists' age into the appreciation of their work and excuse or forgive things based on youth. Marling was 18 when this was released, but she's hardly the first to make an album as a teenager. My natural point of comparison on those grounds is with Thea Gilmore whose career I have followed a fair bit more closely than Marling's but started at a similar age (albeit a decade earlier). In direct comparison, I prefer Gilmore's words but I think the arrangement of Marling's tunes is more accomplished. I favour the former (though I find Gilmore more hit and miss recently), but I am really enjoying the latter here. There is a good mix of tempos and variety in performance on this album and my initial criticism of her voice is I think misplaced when considering the whole; whilst some songs do hint at a weakness, others are performed with confidence.
It is a rainy Saturday morning (the first wet one in a while) and autumn has really hit. After a sleepless night, and a frustrating Friday evening revisiting this album this morning has been a welcome pick-me-up. If Laura Marling's other albums stack up as well as this then I will have to consider making a point of listening to her more - though to go be the first comments I find, many people seem to consider this her best.
There are some low-points. I dislike Shine - specifically the chorus - as I do not think she carries the simple guitar and voice combination off well, and I was not particularly taken with Your Only Doll for a similar reason - plus the sodding birdsong-hidden track. Old Stone did not really do much for me either. These are quibbles though, minor niggles in what was otherwise a pleasant 40 minutes.
Within the first minute I am reminded of a feature of Marling's (early) songs - the same track can feel very different in tone. I quite like this effect and Ghosts has a simple charm about it. Reasonable tempo, decent lyrics and simple but effective accompaniment. I am not sure about her voice; there is a vulnerability there that may be young artist debut syndrome and whilst it adds a charm in some respects I think it leaves me with the impression that the songs could be a bit bolder.
My impression now - up to Failure - is, I think, more favourable than it was. I am appreciating the uncomplicated melodies and the very pleasant string arrangements. I am less taken with the songs themselves, but then again as I have said before I am likely missing a lot of the lyrics, and not having listened to them enough to learn them. I am quite taken with the higher tempo of You're No God though - one I do recognise.
It is easy to modulate our opinions based on information - to bring the artists' age into the appreciation of their work and excuse or forgive things based on youth. Marling was 18 when this was released, but she's hardly the first to make an album as a teenager. My natural point of comparison on those grounds is with Thea Gilmore whose career I have followed a fair bit more closely than Marling's but started at a similar age (albeit a decade earlier). In direct comparison, I prefer Gilmore's words but I think the arrangement of Marling's tunes is more accomplished. I favour the former (though I find Gilmore more hit and miss recently), but I am really enjoying the latter here. There is a good mix of tempos and variety in performance on this album and my initial criticism of her voice is I think misplaced when considering the whole; whilst some songs do hint at a weakness, others are performed with confidence.
It is a rainy Saturday morning (the first wet one in a while) and autumn has really hit. After a sleepless night, and a frustrating Friday evening revisiting this album this morning has been a welcome pick-me-up. If Laura Marling's other albums stack up as well as this then I will have to consider making a point of listening to her more - though to go be the first comments I find, many people seem to consider this her best.
There are some low-points. I dislike Shine - specifically the chorus - as I do not think she carries the simple guitar and voice combination off well, and I was not particularly taken with Your Only Doll for a similar reason - plus the sodding birdsong-hidden track. Old Stone did not really do much for me either. These are quibbles though, minor niggles in what was otherwise a pleasant 40 minutes.
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