Once I Was an Eagle

Once I Was An Eagle is the fourth album by British singer-songwriter Laura Marling, to be released on 27 May (US/Canada, 28 May) 2013.

Promotion
The album was announced on 8 March 2013, along with a streaming of "Where Can I Go?" on Laura Marling's official SoundCloud page.

Long time collaborators, Fred & Nick, created an 18 minute film called When Brave Bird Saved, written and directed by the pair, which was a "visual introduction" to the first four songs on the album, "Take The Night Off", "I Was An Eagle", "You Know" and "Breathe". The four songs seamlessly flow into one another, much like "Don't Ask Me Why" and "Salinas" on Marling's previous album, A Creature I Don't Know. The name from the film is derived from the titles of the last four songs on the album, When Were Happy? (And How Long Has That Been), Love Be Brave, Little Bird, and Saved These Words.

"Master Hunter" premiered on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show on 16 April 2013. Marling performed "Master Hunter" and "Once" on Later...with Jools Holland on 26 April 2013.

To promote the album in North America, Marling embarked on a small tour leading up to the album's release. "Where Can I Go?" was sent to North American Triple-A radio on 20 May 2013.

Critical Reception
Reception for 'Once I Was An Eagle' has so far been extremely positive, reviewers noting a major step forward in Marling's already precocious songwriting, and confirming that she is as talented as many of her singer/songwriter forbears such as Joni Mitchell. In a positive early review by NME, reviewer Matthew Horton concluded by writing "Plenty's made of Marling's precocity, but on first exposure 'Once I Was An Eagle' really does seem to be another astonishingly mature step forward. In 20 years she'll be celebrated as one of the greats – just be glad you could be here now." While a review in Uncut claimed that Once I Was An Eagle is "by some distance her best album."

The two pre-released songs, "Where Can I Go" and "Master Hunter" have both been received with critical acclaim, citing new directions for Marling, but all reviews agreeing that while she "tests" new sounds, it always has the familiar Marling feel.

'Once I Was An Eagle' received a very positive review from Clash Magazine, calling it a "beautiful achievement", and confirming that Marling can "sit side-by-side with PJ [Harvey], Joni [Mitchell] and Sandy [Denny]" as one of the "greatest singer-songwriters of both her generation and generations before it." The review concluded by saying that "Without doubt, this is one of the folk albums of the year." A positive review by the Irish Times said that "whether she is softly crooning over a plucked guitar or dabbling with organs and percussion for quietly cacophonous climaxes, Marling is never less than captivating." The website entirely dedicated to folk music, #folkgeek, gave 'Once I Was An Eagle' a glowing review saying "Brilliant and bold, Once I Was An Eagle easily tops the short list for Album of the Year contenders. For longtime Marling fans it will surely not disappoint, however 'Once I Was An Eagle' may just break Marling into the big time with more casual listeners (and, dare I say, the US market?). Truly spectacular – it is the must-have album of the year so far.", highlighting 'Breathe', 'Where Can I Go?', 'Once' and 'Saved These Words' as standout tracks, describing the later as "Sheer bliss."

Personnel

 * Laura Marling - voice, guitar
 * Ruth de Turberville - cello
 * Ethan Johns - Drums