Laura Marling: A Creature I Don’t Know
2011 has been a good year for music. There have been several albums released this year that have earned a spot in my CD player. That being said, I believe Laura Marling’s latest release, A Creature I Don’t Know, gets my vote for album of the year. You can have a listen to the album on Spotify by clicking this link —> Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know (Spotify is free and this link will prompt you to download if you don’t already have it. I highly recommend it.)
I’ll admit that I didn’t fall in love with it immediately. I’m guilty of listening to the first minute or so and skipping to the next one if I’m not quickly taken by a song. It took a couple visitations to each track for anything to finally latch on to my consciousness, but I soon discovered that this album is truly something to be appreciated.
The opening track, The Muse, has an unfamiliar sound about it, certainly unfamiliar in relation to Laura’s past work. I believe I have the first track to blame for my initial anxiety in regards to the album as a whole… not to say that the song isn’t good, it just didn’t immediately appeal to me as it strayed from my expectations. Moving through the album, track 4, Salinas, was one of my early favorites. It has a bluesy sound to it that is carried in large part by the vocals and lyrics.
The last four tracks have a different pacing and mood in comparison to the first half of the album. In my opinion, this portion identifies A Creature I Don’t Know as Laura’s magnum opus. Each track builds with a brooding energy that creates a true sense of wonderment not often found in the music of today. The tracks My Friends and Sophia exemplify the sense I’m referring to.
The album sounds just as new as it does old; roots running through time without ever being grounded. It draws influence from the ordinary and fantastic. If you don’t know of Laura Marling, take a moment to discover her.
(Teaser for the new album featuring a clip of the track Night After Night)
