In which Laura Marling hits upon something of unusual texture and (in the good, unprecious way) delicacy - sinuous and quietly intoxicating, and often with a sneaky groove that flows as much from the odd sung-spoken cadence as from the combined effect of the instruments. Those features work in tandem, say, on "Wild Fire", and when the electric guitar finally arrives in something like full voice on the last track, "Nothing, Not Nearly", it's to equally good effect. And, while I'm only a couple of albums into her discography - I Speak Because I Can, Once I Was An Eagle - she's rarely, if ever, been as gorgeously woozy as on standouts "The Valley" and "Don't Pass Me By".
