Marling is artful at remaining cloaked.
Womanhood is a topic that
Laura Marling embraces; her sixth album takes its title from an excerpt from Virgil‘s poem Aeneid - “varium et mutabile semper femina” - meaning “woman is always a fickle and changeable thing.” She reclaimed this phrase and took ‘
Semper Femina’ (‘Always a Woman’) for her art, even getting the phrase inked on her thigh.
She sings in narratives throughout, but there is always a longing to discover something. Atop the palm-muted notes of ‘
Always This Way’, she ponders: “I’d like to know if she had to go / or if she made a point to.”
More questions are asked on the melodically finger-picked ‘
Wild Once’, about a time forgotten, where “You will sit down to explain it / And you’re constantly asking ‘Why?’”
