Laura Marling’s exquisite seventh album “A Song For Our Daughter” arrived in April 2020 almost without pre-amble or warning in the midst of uncharted global chaos, and yet instantly and tenderly offered a sense of purpose, clarity and calm. As a balm for the soul, the full-blooded new collection could be posited as Laura’s richest and finest to date, but in truth it’s another incredibly fine record by a British artist who has made a career long penchant for delivering incredibly fine records.

Returning to the studio to work alongside engineer/producer Dom Monks and Ethan Johns (Once I Was An Eagle, A Creature I Don’t Know, I Speak Because I Can), Laura has layered in lush string arrangements and a broad sense of scale to these songs without losing any of the intimacy or reverence we’ve come to anticipate from this universally acclaimed musician over the past decade.

Laura followed its release with the first (known) ticketed live performance by an artist at a venue, during this period of lockdown. Taking to the stage alone, and looking out above the empty pews of London’s Union Chapel, Laura played for an hour merging the old with the new, streamed live for her UK and European fans in all its cinematic glory. She followed it just a couple of hours later with another live performance to her North American fanbase. Both shows ‘sold out’ and were met with positive reviews extolling the virtues of what this might mean for the future of live shows. Laura proved that you can make live performances feel special, feel like a moment.

Looking ahead, one day Laura will eventually take these songs out on the road and to her fans both old and new, and we can all be congregated in those same rooms with her, enjoying this mesmeric record being played live.

An artist of genuine distinction, Laura Marling offered a flicker of joy and some warmth in an otherwise tough, bleak year. “A Song For Our Daughter” won’t be defined by the exterior factors it arrived into, but by its joy, its humanity, and by the strange sense of unity it provoked right when we needed it most. An excellent record then; file it next to all her others.