There is something liberating about being a speck on a map or a face in a crowd. The anonymity is alluring and the sense of perspective often necessary. But, after a while, the open spaces stop being expanses in which to adventure and start being empty. Laura Marling has gone full circle, with ‘Short Movie’ acting as a full stop on an American odyssey.
Having decamped to the States following the release of ‘Once I Was An Eagle’, first to tour under her own steam, then to live in Los Angeles with a new-found, quickly-extinguished love, Marling’s fifth album is informed by its surroundings and her journey into the unknown. A ‘nu-folk’ darling in London, she switched skins and dabbled with Tarot, soaked up the work of Carl Jung and Alejandro Jodorowsky and slept under an infinite sky at Joshua Tree.
A sense of isolation duly colours many of the stylistic choices on ‘Short Movie’. Much of the record is attended by a low hum that, while panned hard, gives the impression of things going on just out of frame, while Marling’s experimentation with electric guitars results not in a busy sound but distinct layers.
Her often frenetic picking gets the same treatment, appearing to be blown in with the wind on the atmospheric Warrior and offering a fizzing counterpoint to a yearning vocal on I Feel Love. The rolling Strange then acts as that song’s mirror image, with Marling’s stream-of-consciousness delivery landing somewhere between Joni Mitchell and David Byrne.
Gurdjieff’s Daughter and Don’t Let Me Bring You Down are forthright and brisk in a way that Marling hasn’t always chosen to operate, with the latter also offering an uncluttered sentiment: “Living here is a game I don’t know how to play. Are you really not anybody until somebody knows your name?”
‘Short Movie’ is a trip through new landscapes that nevertheless ends up somewhere familiar. Marling challenges herself and plays with outside perceptions of her work, but as Worship Me’s late-in-the-day strings fade to tape hiss the end result is another beautifully crafted folk record. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Laura Marling Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Mon April 20 2015 - LONDON Queen Elizabeth Hall
Tue April 21 2015 - LONDON Queen Elizabeth Hall
Wed April 22 2015 - CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange
Fri April 24 2015 - MANCHESTER Albert Hall
Sat April 25 2015 - GLASGOW O2 Academy Glasgow
Mon April 27 2015 - BIRMINGHAM Institute
Wed April 29 2015 - LONDON Queen Elizabeth Hall
Thu April 30 2015 - LONDON Queen Elizabeth Hall
Mon May 04 2015 - SOUTHAMPTON O2 Guildhall Southampton
Tue May 05 2015 - BRISTOL Colston Hall
Thu May 07 2015 - DUBLIN Olympia
Fri May 08 2015 - BELFAST Waterfront Hall Auditorium
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