A confidence beyond her years brings us from bluegrass, through rock, to pure folk in this, the third studio album from 22-year-old Laura Marling, who was this year proclaimed Best British Female at the Brits, and Best Solo Artist by NME.

Marling is not one to shy away from experimentation, and her heartfelt lyrics describe an almost religious fear of death and awe for life. Salinas, in particular, paints an almost post-apocalyptic world of burning suns and angels, as Marling asks, gun in hand, “Am I heaven-bound?”  The song comes out with slide guitars like a country singer’s retrospective, pining for mother, friends and the resplendent life.

This country twang comes out in the album’s very first track, 'The Muse', in which jaunty, jazzy pianos overlay Marling’s voice, which no longer wails, but croons for a man and, “love like hunger”. Successfully she combines blues themes, and enigmatic lyrics with banjo music, somehow pulling it all together seamlessly. Oddly enough, it is 'The Beast', whose simple crunchy guitars and half-spoken lyrics seem to make it the weakest track on the album. It’s the least busy and layered, but rather repetitive and broody, as well as being an over-long five-and-a-half minutes.

Marling’s adaptable voice and steady rhythms may go too far in making a washed out sound. It’s hard to pick out a standout track, though Sophia does do a good job. The change of mood between verses shows a lack of structure which in no way detracts from the track’s quality, but moves us from moody reflective verse, to choppy, almost up-beat chorus singing, and a splash of an ending which brings us nicely into the album’s final track, a kind of jolly toast to the world of folk itself.

Mere months after her 2010 album, I Speak Because I Can, this latest offering from Marling shows us her continuing status as one of the country’s leading folk artists, and one who is set to stay for years to come.

[4/5]