(pair of mirrors)

#9. Laura Marling - A Creature I Don’t Know

“I Was Just A Card”

Laura Marling has made me think harder than any other musician this year. I have to listen to her so carefully, but I get something new out of every listen. Her songs are so sophisticated and discerning. I said it before but I have to say it again, Laura Marling seems incredibly wise beyond her years. A Creature I Don’t Know is my poetry album of 2011, for true listening and digestion. What’s even better is how the album isn’t limited to that poetic folk sound. It has these incredible and dynamic shifts between warm and harsh, bright and dark. Movement filled, percussive banjos and strumming between astonishingly quiet and peaceful moments. It is a roller coaster ride of a folk album. The ups and downs are dictated by a variety of things, be it number of instruments, the incredible range of Marling’s voice, the cheerful highs contrasted against sorrowful, heart wrenching lows. 

 I can’t help but think that Laura Marling represents some of the most intelligent, thoughtful, reflective song writing that this year had to offer. Her songs are so honest and immediate but complex at the same time. I have to say again that she is only 21, and so incredibly talented its just mind blowing. Lyrics, vocals, guitar playing, she is a goddess of folk. I can’t even imagine what this woman is going to accomplish next. 

Let’s just say three people on my Christmas list are getting this album, and I know they won’t be disappointed. 

Here are some of my favourite lyrics from the album:

I was just a card, caught up in the stars, looking down to mars

you know, you know, he knows, he knows

something about me that i don’t want him to know  -I Was Just A Card

He longs for the answers, as all of us must

He longs for the woman who will conquer his lust

He screams in the night, I scream in the day

We weep int he evening and lie naked and pray. -Night After Night

My friends, my dear friends, and lovers, oh my lovers

I’d leave you for them, they got a hand on my back   -My Friends

All I want for Christmas are tickets to Europe to see her play with Timber Timbre. Too bad I definitely won’t get it. Sigh. 

-M