Laura MarlingOnce again teaming up with Grammy-nominated producer Ethan Johns for her fourth full-length, Once I Was An Eagle is UK indie-folk songstress Laura Marling's most ambitious undertaking to date. The album begins in subdued fashion with the melancholy Take The Night Off, featuring sparse accompaniment to Marling's strumming and voice in the form of cello, minimal piano and sparing drums.
Interestingly, the following three songs – I Was An Eagle, You Know and Breathe – are barely indistinguishable from the first, the four tracks flowing together into one, laidback, almost 16-minute epic. Master Hunter breathes some much-needed urgency into proceedings, before things slow down again for the tranquil Little Love Caster. Devil's Resting Place is one of the strongest moments, with its cello and percussion-heavy mix resonating more than the preceding tracks, before the superfluous two-and-a-bit-minute cello of Interlude.
The album picks up some pace from this point, with Undine noticeably more upbeat, and Where Can I Go giving Marling's vocals their first opportunity to truly soar. Once is a subdued but achingly beautiful number that doesn't wear out its welcome, and although it takes a few minutes to reach its crescendo, Pray For Me is equally palatable. The album falters a little over the next couple of tracks, before ending on a high note with Little Bird and the sublime Saved These Words.
Although it might be lacking some of the immediate hooks of its predecessors, Once I Was An Eagle's charm sinks in with repeated spins. That said, at 16 tracks and clocking it at more than an hour, it could have benefitted from some more judicious editing.
