The queen of the British folk-rock scene has returned from her two-year retreat. Laura Marling’s latest release, Short Movie, stays true to her folk roots but this time with some added electric elements. Since Marling’s first release at the age of 16, her growth as an artist has been incredibly evident. While Short Movie is not quite the masterpiece that 2013’s Once I Was an Eagle was (it’s hard to beat a good old-fashioned breakup album), it continues to function as a window into Marling’s soul.
Longtime Laura Marling fans may worry that she’s abandoning her tried-and-true folk sound, but that is simply not the case. Songs like “Gurdjieff’s Daughter” and “Don’t Let Me Bring You Down” show electric rock influences, but much of the album sounds like classic Laura Marling. However, her new rock sound suggests an urgency in lyrics that her past work hasn’t had. Even unplugged songs like “Strange” show a new kind of aggression previously unseen in Marling’s work. “Strange,” the emotional climax of the album, reflects on the two opposing sides of an adulterous relationship. Her agitated tone of voice and unsettling talk-singing make the song uncomfortable, but her words make up for it.
Short Movie serves as Marling’s diary. The album is the product of her two-year retreat into the California desert for some extended self-reflection. During this time, Marling read, did yoga and participated in some intense inward exploration, asking herself questions that almost all 20-somethings ask at some point. ShortMovie addresses many of these rhetorical ideas in an extremely honest way. “False Hope” opens with the question “Is it still okay that I don’t know how to be alone?” and “Walk Alone” addresses the same types of issues, while in “Warrior” she refers to herself as a “horse with no name.” These conflicts, the competition between independence and the need for affection, are representative of most people her age, which makes Short Movie painfully honest and real.
Grade: A
