'A Creature I Don't Know' Album Review, forgive my year 11 informalities, circa 2011.

Laura Marling’s bold venture into the realms of the ‘difficult third album’ territory are proving to be very sound; genre mixing and mingling with the likes of Rock, Blues, Country and Jazz in an eager bid to discard the typecast of the ‘Nu-Folk’ genre she herself established alongside Marcus Mumford, King Charles and Johnny Flynn in her first two albums- ‘Alas, I Cannot Swim’ and the BRIT award winning ‘I Speak Because I Can’.

‘A Creature, I Don’t Know’ shows much promise, the opening track ‘The Muse’ flaunts a mellow and slightly atonal melody, Marling’s vocals embracing the piano whilst purring lyrics of ‘the beast’; an ongoing theme throughout.

‘I Was Just A Card’, seemingly innocent soon dissolves into a whir of emotions leading into nostalgic medley ‘Don’t Know Why’ and ‘Salinas’, which rolls into a relaxed Blues-y lull towards the end, showcasing Marling’s extraordinary ability to merge genres. This is preceded by bittersweet ‘The Beast’ showing her darker side as the Rock element to the album is exposed, rearing its head at the solid use of electric guitars and drums as she echoes cursings of ‘The Beast’.  

‘Night After Night’ then follows with stripped back murmurs of crazed adoration and lust ‘Darling I loved you, I longed to become you’ as the tone is pierced with the chorus ‘Would you watch my body weaken, my mind drift away?’ heartbroken, this is Marling at her best.

Towards the end of the album ‘Sophia’ finally emerges with a memorable tune spiralling into Blues-y ambience, again, with an upbeat and positive air to it whilst finally coming to rest at ‘All My Rage’ which proves to be uplifting with the air of a sea shanty finishing the record on a light note.

Her live performance is that of a matured and dedicated musician whilst only being 20 years of age, her attitude seems calm and collected yet pleasantly surprised at the attention she receives for her music.

Having seen her myself at the ‘End of the Road’ Festival; located in Larmer Tree Gardens, North Dorset, the show itself proved to be a highly enticing and captivating performance in a stunningly intimate rural environment buried deep in the heart of Dorset. Overall, a pleasantly refreshing spectacle despite not fully interacting with the audience, she has the crowd hot on her heel and as a spectator it is a truly breathtaking experience.

All in all, ‘A Creature, I Don’t Know’ boasts a broad eclectic range of genres and musical competency from an artist who with no doubt will endeavour to produce more records of equally high quality in years to come, a definite must-listen-to.  9/10