Laura Marling moved to Los Angeles in 2013, shortly after the release of Once I Was An Eagle. During her time in America, she began work on new material only to scrap it – along with her producer, Ethan Johns. Marling is therefore interwoven throughout the album as both producer and writer. The result: forty minutes of complete bliss.

A loyal fan of Marling for many years, I have noticed her organic growth in maturity and depth of sound. Each album brings with it its own flavour and feeling, Short Movie being no exception. The sound is more rock and upbeat in comparison to some of her previous work, with many of the tracks swapping Marling’s iconic acoustic guitar for its electric counterpart.

Despite this change, what remains is a continuous undertone of melancholy and sadness. Her success and capability have never seemed quite enough for Marling, being the beautifully complex and solitary individual that she is. On listening to the album, it struck me that only Laura could make the joyous feeling of love more of a burden than a novelty, as on the track ‘Walk Alone’: “I don’t believe this shit / I was doing fine without it / Now I can’t walk alone”.

During her time in America, Marling applied, unsuccessfully, for a poetry course in New York and secured a job in the service industry. As an individual, Marling has talents beyond her obvious musical ones; to advertise the album Marling set upon “painting the town yellow, red and blue” or in other words, painted four billboards across London by hand. These alone illustrate her individuality and creativity, and yet as of right now there is no better place to see these parts of Marling in play than this enchanting gem of an album.

I for one can’t wait to see what comes next.

Stasi Roe