The Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominees will be announced
shortly, so the staff here at It’s All Indie are putting together our personal picks
for nominees. My choice is "Once I Was An Eagle" by Laura Marling. The album
was released on 27 May and reached number 3 on the UK charts and number 49 on
the Billboard 200 in the US. Marling is a Hampshire born singer-songwriter who
recently moved to Los Angeles.
This is by far Marling’s strongest album to date, which is
amazing when you consider that she’s 23 and this is already her fourth album. "Once
I Was An Eagle" is a folk album that’s for everyone, not just folk fans, and I mean
that in the best possible way. I was never a huge fan of folk but yet I’ve
loved Laura Marling for a few years now. She delivers haunting vocals that get
under your skin, and the intensity with which she plays guitar at times is just
enthralling.
When I say she’s a folk artist, I don’t necessarily mean it in the same
sense many people may think of today, of the sounds of artists such as The
Lumineers or Mumford and Sons. I think she’s more of a folk musician in the
singer-songwriter tradition, hearkening back to artists such as Bob Dylan and
Woody Guthrie. It’s a sometimes less commercial but more personal, gripping style
of songwriting that I find compelling as a listener.
Some of the standout tracks for me include “I Was An Eagle,”
“Master Hunter” and “Breathe.” "Once I Was An Eagle" is an extraordinarily
solid album, and if you don’t own it already I’d highly suggest that you
reconsider. Marling’s talents as a singer-songwriter only continue to improve,
and I’d love to see this album nominated for the Barclaycard Mercury Prize.
By: Holly Spidle
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