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Hotly-tipped as one of the records of the year, we take a look at Laura Marling’s new eighth studio album, Patterns in Repeat, fifteen years into a prolific singer-songwriter career of creating some of the beautiful folk songs to date.

Lush and poetically rich: Marling returns as one of the best in the business.

“…and if life is just a dream / I’m gonna make it mean something worth a damn … so no one’s gonna love you like I can.”

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No matter what version of a life you find yourself in, there is one song, record or handful of picked melody notes in Marling’s back catalogue that you can always resonate with. Whether it be the fiery teen era of Laura’s second I Speak Because I Can in 2010 delving into the responsibility of womanhood or the poignant diary entry of Song For Our Daughter in 2020 before Marling conceived, every folk tale recorded captures an emotion, a chapter or an Autumn season where life has seemingly thrown us for six.

Now, fifteen years on, written after the birth of her daughter in 2023, eighth Patterns in Repeat tumbles into the motherhood experience, reflecting on the behaviours – some incomprehensible – we pass down through family over generations.

It can be argued that womanhood is worth more than a thousand words and so what better way for Marling to return as a singer-songwriter encapsulating the beauty and desire of giving birth to a beautiful daughter? The stage is set for Laura to come into her own and do what she’s always done throughout her fifteen-year longevity, invest in the music and create timeless folk stories.

A beautiful serenade to sparking new life, from alluring lead Patterns to idyllic piano-heavy No One’s Gonna Love You Like I Can, it’s a folk record that certainly shouldn’t be shelved anytime soon. With melodies as crisp as the Autumnal air to walk in, Patterns in Repeat is a coffeehouse staple this year.