During a recent interview with the Observer, Laura Marling talked about what made her fourth album different to the three that went before. "This album is definitely a step towards being more … plain in my songwriting," she told Tom Lamont. "As I've gotten older, more comfortable with myself, I've become more comfortable channeling honesty into songwriting."

For one so literate, "plain" is perhaps not the best word to describe the emotionally raw, open-hearted music on Once I Was an Eagle. The whole album is run through with a sense of revelation, as if Marling is digging deep within herself to explore the truths and complexities of falling in love.

Of course, it's all set against that wise-beyond-her-years folk sound that has been steadily maturing since her debut album, Alas, I Cannot Swim, in 2008.

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