Sound Off | Marling’s latest full of smooth acoustics

On her junior release, British singer-songwriter Laura Marling explores new styles of music and shows a dark side of her that few have seen. Even the album artwork for A Creature I Don't Know is punctuated by shadow: Overtly sexual and raw, it reflects many of the songs on the album. "The album is all about tugging and churning with goodness and darkness," the singer said. Musically and emotionally, Creature reveals a vulnerable part of Marling to the world.

Many of Marling's songs feature just her voice and the guitar at her side. "Dad had taken the time to teach me guitar," she said about learning music in her childhood. "[He] gave me a real passion for guitar that I didn't quite realize until I got out into the big wide world."

Marling says that she'd written songs for as long as she could remember. "It wasn't till I began playing them to my dad that I realized I could do something with them if I worked on them," she explained.

The 21-year-old singer is somewhat of an icon of the English folk scene after rising to prominence several years ago. Originally part of the band Noah and the Whale, Marling left the band in 2008 at the same time that she broke up with the group's lead vocalist, Charlie Fink.

That same year, Marling released her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim. Immediately her emotion-heavy lyrics and skill at the guitar were recognized as profound: Alas, I Cannot Swim was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize. Marling was only 18.

As she toured for her first album, Marling helped launch the band Mumford & Sons to stardom. The group sometimes preformed as her backing band, and Marcus Mumford, the group's frontman, opened several of her shows (For some time Marling also dated Mumford, but the couple broke up in December 2010).

2010 saw the nomination of another Mercury Prize for Marling, with her sophomore release I Speak Because I Can. The banjo-heavy "Devil's Spoke" stuck out as a shining track on the album.

On Creature, Marling sounds much more grown up: Her voice is huskier, stronger. The first several songs on the album do a fine job of introducing Marling, her swelling voice and her strong guitar, but the gems of the album lie farther in.

Often Marling is backed by piano, drums, cellos and banjos, adding different musical elements throughout the tracks to embellish her guitar (and even hinting at jazzier sounds in "The Muse"). One song, "Salinas," is strung with banjos and reaches a foot-stomping tempo as Marling sings, "Ask the angels, ‘Will I ever see heaven again?'"

Whereas some of her previous tunes may have been slow and sad, several songs on the new album overturn a new theme altogether. "There's places where the muscle of the music overtakes the notes," Marling said, "and I like that."

Songs such as "The Beast," "Night After Night" and "Rest in the Bed" roil in this shadowy land of A Creature I Don't Know.

"The Beast" in particular defines the theme of the album. The hum of electric guitars, rarely heard in Marling's other music, throttle the song and plunge it into themes of lust and malevolence. "Tonight he lies with me / And here comes the beast," Marling sings, hearkening back to the cover artwork and providing a means by which that dark illustration can live in the album.

Marling strips her sound down to her voice and guitar for "Night After Night," the song on the album with the most moving lyrics. "I don't stand for the devil," Marling cries out, "I don't whisper in ears / I stand on the mountains / And call people to hear."

Several songs touch on notions of sexuality. "Who's been touching my skin? / Who have I been letting?" Marling sings in "Sophia." Meant to reflect ideas of the ancient goddess of wisdom, the song starts with just Marling's guitar, then builds to a rock-like full-band sound, and finally transcends to a jazzy chorus.

"This album is very much a story, start to finish," Marling said, and she proves it on the final track of the album, "All My Rage." Marling sheds herself of darkness in this bright and fast-paced tune, singing, "I leave my rage to the sea and the sun." She is determined to start anew.

"When I try and think about my musical future, I just have to kinda have faith that I can write songs," the folk artist said. "That's it. That's all I can do. And I can play guitar. I'm getting better at guitar all the time." And indeed she is.

If anything, A Creature I Don't Know proves that Marling, three albums into her career and only just on the cusp of adulthood, still has much more to sing. A Creature I Don't Know debuted on Sept. 13. Marling plays in New York City on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at Webster Hall.