WITH many artists choosing to delay the release of their albums due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, some good news arrived yesterday courtesy of Laura Marling who revealed she will be releasing her’s early. While her seventh album ‘Song for Our Daughter’ was originally slated for release at the end of this summer, Marling will now be unveiling it this coming Friday.
In a statement she said “In light of the change to all our circumstances, I saw no reason to hold back on something that, at the very least, might entertain, and at its best, provide some sense of union. It’s strange to watch the facade of our daily lives dissolve away, leaving only the essentials; those we love and our worry for them. An album, stripped of everything that modernity and ownership does to it, is essentially a piece of me, and I’d like for you to have it.”
The new album indicates a fresh start for Marling after she left her label in the wake of touring 2017’s ‘Semper Femina’. She also embarked on a new side project with Tunng’s Mike Lindsay under the pseudonym LUMP and enrolled in a masters degree in psychoanalysis. From that, she returns with a new album she says comes from “the fragmentary, nonsensical experience of trauma and an enduring quest to understand what it is to be a woman in this society.”
She adds “My writing, as ever, was months, years, in front of my conscious mind. It was there all along, guiding me gently through the chaos of living. And that, in itself, describes the sentiment of the album—how would I guide my daughter, arm her and prepare her for life and all of its nuance?
“I’m older now, old enough to have a daughter of my own, and I feel acutely the responsibility to defend The Girl. The Girl that might be lost, torn from innocence prematurely or unwittingly fragmented by forces that dominate society. I want to stand behind her and whisper in her ear all the confidences and affirmations I had found so difficult to provide myself. This album is that strange whisper; a little distorted, a little out of sequence, such is life.”
Lead single ‘Held Up’ is a gorgeous introduction. One of her more accessible, pop-leaning offerings, it’s a dreamy, billowing track with ascending vocal harmonies and a beautiful melody. It’s certainly a promising indication of what’s to come.
‘Song For Our Daughter’ arrives this Friday (1oth April) on Partisan/Chrysalis.
Check out ‘Held Down’ below.
