Albums to watch

I Speak Because I Can

Laura Marling

I Speak Because I Can

Second album of indie/folk from former Noah And The Whale member

ADM rating[?]

8.0

Label
EMI
UK Release date
22/03/2010
  1. 10.0 |   The Times

    The singer who two years ago said that Joni Mitchell’s Court & Spark was her favourite album has just delivered an album that stands comparison to that high-water mark. And she’s still only 20
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  2. 10.0 |   The Irish Times

    Difficult second album? No, ma’am.. Like the proverbial wine, Marling just gets better with age
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  3. 10.0 |   Daily Telegraph

    Passionate sequence of songs expressing all the wildness and wisdom of a 20 year-old “feeling the weight of womanhood”
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  4. 10.0 |   The Guardian

    Her first triumph: a collection of literary and emotional songs to have you whooping with joy or fighting off tears, with tunes that deliver new riches with each listen
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  5. 9.0 |   Clash

    A remarkable record; you’ll want to play little else
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  6. 9.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    An album of elegance and brilliance
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  7. 9.0 |   The Fly

    With anyone else, you’d label this their coming-of-age record. For Marling, we should’ve expected nothing less. Stunning
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  8. 9.0 |   God Is In The TV

    There is no way that this won't make it onto every journalists album of the year list come the end of 2010. It will make it onto mine, that is for sure
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  9. 8.3 |   A.V. Club

    I Can would make for sublime coffee-shop fodder, except that Marling’s music and especially her exquisitely wrought words reward, deserve, and ultimately demand close concentration
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  10. 8.1 |   Pitchfork

    To say Marling evinces wisdom beyond her years on I Speak would be a criminal understatement, considering she's created a haunting, fully flowered gem of an album
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  11. 8.0 |   All Music

    A stoic, bare-bones singer/songwriter record
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  12. 8.0 |   Rave Magazine

    Marling steps out of the murky background of anonymous singer-songwriters and becomes a genuinely intriguing presence.
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  13. 8.0 |   FasterLouder

    A beautiful album, drawing heavily on the English folk tradition, particularly in some of the images that Marling evokes
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  14. 8.0 |   Blurt

    Marling's self-assured, lyrically gripping performances knit even its most diverse parts together, so that I Speak, for all its variety, hangs together admirably well
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  15. 8.0 |   NME

    Marks a slightly rootsier direction for Marling
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  16. 8.0 |   Blurt

    Its 10 tracks are remarkably rendered; combining a darker sound and more raw emotion from the singer this time around, with an added sophistication and a youthful vim driving it onwards
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  17. 8.0 |   Q

    Print edition only

  18. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Print edition only

  19. 8.0 |   The Digital Fix

    With this album Laura Marling has shown that she can stand shoulder to shoulder with the very best
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  20. 8.0 |   The Independent

    It's full of songs which twist and turn as you listen
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  21. 8.0 |   State

    An album designed to be experienced and enjoyed on an intimate level. Laura Marling has worked to create something quite magnificent
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  22. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    10 songs of great intensity and seriousness of purpose... Greatness awaits
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  23. 8.0 |   Independent on Sunday

    Marling is genuinely original, and in a pop market saturated with singer-songwriting mediocrity, she is to be treasured
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  24. 7.4 |   Beats Per Minute

    It sounds like she’s letting the past drift away on a refreshing seaside wind, like a kite cut from its string
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  25. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    When Marling tempers her mannerisms and finds the right balance between mature production and folky sparseness, all the mandolins and dulcimers in the folk canon will be hers
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  26. 7.0 |   The Observer

    Marling remains a frustratingly polite songwriter, rather than one who really skewers you through the solar plexus. She is good but not yet truly great
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  27. 7.0 |   Spin

    Her stormy folk songs are primal and dark, crammed with ancient mythology and portentous warnings
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  28. 6.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Despite this maturity and the lightness of touch present throughout there is a nagging feeling throughout that Marling feels she has something to prove and can’t truly relax
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  29. 6.0 |   Uncut

    She just needs a set of songs that are as compelling as her voice
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  30. 6.0 |   The Skinny

    Whilst there may be the distinct feeling that you’re being guide-dog led towards a particular emotive response, sometimes it’s nice to just submit
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  31. 6.0 |   The Quietus

    An accomplished record, but that’s it problem. The clever instrumentation feels self-consciously ragged and loose, and overall this is an overly safe step
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Laura Marling: I Speak Because I Can

  • Download full album for just £7.99
  • 1. Devil's Spoke N/A
  • 2. Made By Maid N/A
  • 3. Rambling Man N/A
  • 4. Blackberry Stone N/A
  • 5. Alpha Shallows N/A
  • 6. Goodbye England (Covered In Snow) N/A
  • 7. Hope In The Air N/A
  • 8. What He Wrote N/A
  • 9. Darkness Descends N/A
  • 10. I Speak Because I Can N/A
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