Music Review: Song For Our Daughter by Laura Marling
Photography by Justin Tyler Close
Olivia Olphin reviews Laura Marling’s stunning new album, exploring trauma and what it means to be a woman.
Laura Marling has just released her seventh studio album ahead of its planned release date, hoping that it is “something that at the very least, might entertain, and at its best, provide some sense of union”. In this fragmented time, where people are feeling isolated all over the world, this album’s exploration of the conflict between a woman’s inner and outer world seems all too timely, even though it may not be upbeat enough to be called conventional “entertainment”.
The new album is a personal and moral lullaby; a devastatingly honest account of dealing with trauma and the wish to pass on knowledge from one female generation to the next. Marling writes that the album is part of her “enduring quest to understand what it is to be a woman in this society”. Marling’s own voice really shines through and draws attention to the troubles she has faced as a woman in society and in the music business, having previously produced a podcast on this subject with guests such as Dolly Parton.
Laura Marling’s unique quality is that she has a voice that speaks right to the soul. She is simultaneously ethereal and metaphorical, and then suddenly vibrantly human and vulnerable; with the listener feeling as if they are sitting on the edge of her bed as she sings to them. This natural intimacy is heard on tracks such as “Hope We Meet Again” and “Song for Our Daughter”. Marling writes songs like monologues or stories, linking her to the folk tradition of the past but through a modern female lens.
Highlights include the opening “Alexandra”, which has a more upbeat sound than most of the album, with the production of the track subtly building behind her unique and captivating tone. She uses a higher register here, unusual for Marling, but to great effect. Another stand out is “Only The Strong”, where Marling exclaims that “only the strong will survive” and that “love is a sickness cured by time”. This album comes from a place of maturity and worldliness, a woman who has lived and seen and known.
The diamond of the album is the beautiful “Blow By Blow”, where Marling is most transparent about what she has suffered. Marling sings “tell them that I’m doing fine” and to “underplay distress”; she is covering over trauma in order to cope. This is a song that I have replayed and replayed, and a song that I believe will stay with you when you have turned off the music. Marling wonders “what I’ll do with all my time”, and shows an aimlessness that feels particularly poignant right now, as we all struggle to fill our days with meaning.
However, the end of the album seems less successful than the opening, as songs blur together. Sometimes her previous albums have seemed slightly directionless, and although this album has a stronger momentum, it does falter slightly towards the second half.
Laura Marling is an album-artist, and Song for Our Daughter is a great album, full of intricacies and unexpected emotions. If you understand her voice, Laura Marling is an artist with whom you will have a lifelong relationship. The rich tapestry of her work is one that needs to be re-read, and takes a different form over time. Melancholic and intimate, this is an album that speaks only truths.