Laura Marling - 'Devil's Spoke'
When you're young, you want to be old. Old enough to do the things that grown-ups do, old enough to understand the complications of the world and old enough to be able to change all of it and make it better. There may even be a compelling argument to make that young people, once they're out of childhood, have the oldest minds of all, because once you get past a certain age - let's say 21, for argument's sake - all you want to do is stop the passage of time, to prevent your youthful vitality from ebbing away.
Laura Marling, while older than Pixie Lott and Daisy Dares You, is very young. Younger than N-Dubz, for example, and far too young to sound as experienced and time-worn as she does. She makes older people, such as myself, feel terribly silly and naive next to her ageless, timeless wisdom. I do not know that she is ageless or timeless or wise, but she sounds it. She has a voice like the ticking of a dusty grandfather clock that never loses so much as a micro-second. She sounds like someone opened a pantry door in some Jeeves and Wooster stately home and out came a pale, frosty maiden with a Medusa stare who put an end to all hijinks with one dark look, and then sang a song about the diptheria, which made Bertie gasp "crikey!" in a beaten whisper.
Plus she's a brunette now, which means hottie o'clock in my book.
(. It's rural.)
Now I'm sure it's tempting to point out that I'm confusing the hand-me-down heritage of folk music with Laura's actual emotional growth. She's written a song which owes a debt to all the songs which owe a debt to Bob Dylan's 'It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)', which itself owes a debt to some Scottish folk ballad or bluegrass stomper of the past. It's a lineage, and Laura speaks with the voice of everyone whose music has been given to her for safekeeping.
All of which is true, but she has to be able to deliver. There are thousands of earnest guitar pickin' minstrels who want to do what she does. They know how powerful this stuff can be. But for some reason it's young Laura who's been given the gift, the poise and the chunter-deadening stare. X-Boxes and McFlurrys wilt before her basilisk gaze, and pop bloggers take a turn for the over-dramatic. That's the power of her hoodoo.
There's a particularly striking line towards the end, about a frenzied encounter between the singer and a lover: "eye to eye, nose to nose," sings Laura, impassively "ripping off each other's clothes in a most peculiar way". And it's the awkwardness of that "peculiar way" which is interesting. For the life of me I cannot get the image of a girl in a straw barn, hoiking up a serf-like man's vest over his face, and leaving it there while she trips him up and puts a sock on his hand.
Because for all that she is timeless and wise in her songwriting and singing, Laura Marling is still a young woman, and kind of coy about sexual matters, even in story-song form. It might be a device to keep her out of step with the modern media's obsession with sexy young girls, in case anyone should confuse her with one of the Saturdays, but it speaks volumes.
Leather-bound volumes of an old almanac in a disused castle library, most likely.
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Comment number 1.
At 16th Mar 2010, Oliviaaa987 wrote:Actually, while she is a year older than Pixie Lott, she is in fact younger than all of the N-Dubzes.
Bigggggg Marling fan, been to see her a couple of times but I'm not yet quite convinced of this new sound. It's not miles away and I know everyone needs to change or it gets boring, but I think she's been hanging too much with the Mumfords and has adopted this celtic sound. I kind of wish she'd go back to hanging out with the Noah and the Whaleses. Although, her split with Charlie did result in one of my favouritest albums of all time so I can't complain too much.
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Comment number 2.
At 16th Mar 2010, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Good lord, so she is! Dappy and Fazer are TWENTY-THREE??? SHEESH!
Right, this cannot stand. I'm changing it.
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Comment number 3.
At 16th Mar 2010, BloggingLiam wrote:This kind of music strikes a real chord with me. It's just my kind of thing. Sadly I've never sat down and really given Ms. Marling enough of my time. I have her last album, I've listened, but not properly. I love some tracks and completely over played 'My manic and I'. But still I can't really class myself as a massive fan. It's my sort of music and I'm sad I never did sit down and give the album the time it deserves.
This lead single from the next album is simply fantastic. It's just concreted my opinion I'm a bad person and need to give her some time.
But then the new Amy MacDonald album does look so shiney.
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Comment number 4.
At 16th Mar 2010, flatknees wrote:hhhhmmm.. i really like captain and the hourglass from the last album.. but the rest including this is just not my cup of tea.. ive had the opposite reaction to you liam i think... can certainly see why people like it though.
btw anyone who is a fan of the Shins, the lead singer (Paul Mercer) has completed his side project consisting of him and Danger Mouse (the dude who worked with knarls barley amongst others, not the awesome cartoon), they're called Broken Bells. the album is very good.
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Comment number 5.
At 16th Mar 2010, CurtainJerker wrote:Zane Lowe played The Ghost Inside by Broken Bells on Thursday night. It was quite good.
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Comment number 6.
At 16th Mar 2010, pinkparadox wrote:"Plus she's a brunette now, which means hottie o'clock in my book."
Good Lord, are you a blondist..?
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Comment number 7.
At 16th Mar 2010, harrythedog10 wrote:@ 4
The Broken Bells album is great, The High Road being one of those songs that brilliantly combines old fashioned styles with electronic music. Personally in my opinion everything Dangermouse does is brilliant!
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Comment number 8.
At 16th Mar 2010, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:I'm not, to the best of my knowledge, anything-ist. But you have to admit that's a good look on her.
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Comment number 9.
At 16th Mar 2010, harrythedog10 wrote:Blonde hair doesn't really work if your going for a mature sound due to childish conotations with Barbie and Taylor Swift.
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Comment number 10.
At 16th Mar 2010, BloggingLiam wrote:Duffy would probably disagree :p
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Comment number 11.
At 16th Mar 2010, harrythedog10 wrote:Yeah, what's happened to Duffy? Last time I heard she was recording her new album.
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Comment number 12.
At 16th Mar 2010, jonesybcfc wrote:I think shes recording her new album. lol ;)
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Comment number 13.
At 16th Mar 2010, flatknees wrote:good on zane for playin it then... its like the shins for me in the sense that i can't put a finger on why I like it.. it doesnt even properly 'click' but i can't stop listening to the album
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Comment number 14.
At 17th Mar 2010, RandomEnigma wrote:Yup Duffy is recording a new album as is Adele. Adele is working with Jack White. That's all I know.
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Comment number 15.
At 17th Mar 2010, spirit wrote:So Fraser admits he fancies brunettes !
Something tells me that his two biggest fans , Curtains and Liam , are frantically booking hairdressing appointments .
Both of them will attend salons in the next few days with pictures of Laura Marling in their pockets . They will , without warning , whip the pictures out , show them to the stylist , and give the snipper the strict instruction:
"Just make me look like her ! "
Ah !
:)
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Comment number 16.
At 17th Mar 2010, jonesybcfc wrote:Haha it's funny because it's true...
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Comment number 17.
At 19th Mar 2010, spirit wrote:It is true , of course .
Just saw Curtains , coming out of a hairdressing salon in London . He looked the spitting image of Laura Marling in the Devil's Spoke video !
Love can make you do the craziest things . . . .
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Comment number 18.
At 21st Mar 2010, pinkparadox wrote:I'm sure she's a lovely young lady, but she's not my type :)
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Comment number 19.
At 23rd Mar 2010, spirit wrote:There is a lot of buzz going on in music circles about this young lady , and I can see her album zooming into the top 10 on Sunday .
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Comment number 20.
At 23rd Mar 2010, BloggingLiam wrote:There was plenty of buzz last time around, from what I remember. Album sadly peaked at 45, singles didn't even break the top 100.
Wish her the best of luck this time around!
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Comment number 21.
At 24th Mar 2010, CurtainJerker wrote:Shame. I'm pretty sure even my mum has managed to break the top 100.
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Comment number 22.
At 24th Mar 2010, jonesybcfc wrote:i think i broke the Top 100 in the shower this morning...
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Comment number 23.
At 25th Mar 2010, spirit wrote:Ha Jonesy , I hear you broke your record of 27 seconds in the shower , this morning !
:)
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Comment number 24.
At 25th Mar 2010, spirit wrote:At 19 and 20 , Laura's album has fine pre order figures , and Devil's Spoke is being played on both radios 1 and 2 , her profile is growing , promotion is being done in all the right places , that is why I am predicting aTop 10 album for her on Sunday .
Let's see . . .
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Comment number 25.
At 28th Mar 2010, spirit wrote:So , Laura Marling's album came in at NUMBER 4 !
Brilliant , and just think , all you guys doubted Laura and me !
Crazy . :)
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