Laura Marling Announces New Album Semper Femina, Debuts Self-Directed Video for Lead Single
Photo by Hollie FernandoEnglish indie-folk artist Laura Marling is back with a new album, as well as a self-directed music video for its first single. The new album, titled Semper Femina, is Marling’s sixth, and her follow-up to 2015’s Short Movie.
As the title suggests, the album is about femininity and gender. As Marling explains in a statement:
I started out writing Semper Femina as if a man was writing about a woman, and then I thought, “It’s not a man, it’s me. I don’t need to pretend it’s a man to justify the intimacy, or the way I’m looking and feeling about women. It’s me looking specifically at women and feeling great empathy towards them, and by proxy, towards myself.”
The album’s opening track and first single, “Soothing,” is clearly inspired by that mentality, as well as, apparently, a series of dreams Marling had while recording the album. The video for the single was directed by Marling, making her directorial debut. Be warned, though—you might not want to watch it at the office.
Marling will be on tour in the U.K. in March. You can get tickets now if you pre-order Semper Femina, or wait until Friday, Dec. 2, if you’re not ready to commit to the new album.
Semper Femina comes out March 10, 2017, on Marling’s own More Alarming Records via Kobalt Music Recordings. Watch the video for “Soothing” above, listen to Paste Cloud audio from Marling’s 2012 Daytrotter session below, and find Marling’s U.K. tour dates beneath that.
Laura Marling U.K. Tour Dates:
March
8 – Leeds, U.K. @ O2 Academy
9 – Bristol, U.K. @ Colston Hall
10 – Glasgow, U.K. @ O2 ABC
12 – Manchester, U.K. @ Albert Hall
13 – Oxford, U.K. @ O2 Academy
14 – Birmingham, U.K. @ Institute
16 – Brighton, U.K. @ Dome
17 – London, U.K. @ Roundhouse
18 – Salisbury, U.K. @ City Hall