Album: Laura Marling - 'Patterns in Repeat'
Opening with soft baby gurgles and laughter, the great British folk musician Laura Marling pays tribute to motherhood and the passage of time in her new album, ‘Patterns in Repeat’.
Marling released her previous album, ‘Song For Our Daughter’, written to and about a fictional child, in 2020. Now, in 2024, after becoming a mother and welcoming her baby girl to the world, Marling is releasing her eighth studio album ‘Patterns in Repeat’. This latest album from one of Britain’s most poignant artists focuses on motherhood and how one’s life changes after becoming a parent, along with the intricate spiderweb connections of family and the inevitable passing of time. All these themes are immediately present in the album’s opening track, ‘Child of Mine’.
Marling welcomes us into her eighth album with the soft coos of her daughter, who was present for most of the album’s production at their home studio, where Marling balanced being both an artist and a parent. ‘Child Of Mine’ is a tender, gentle song with Marling painting the wholesome picture of this latest chapter of her life, “You and your dad are dancing in the kitchen, life is slowing down but it’s still bitchin’.” She reflects on the sudden change of pace in one’s life after becoming a parent and how slowing down and watching your child grow up is equally exciting and satisfying as the life one lived before. Yet she doesn’t shy away from the anxieties that follow becoming a mother, with the lyrics “last night in your sleep you started crying, I can’t protect you there, though I keep trying.” With the gentle hum of the guitar behind her, Marling speaks of something we are all too aware of, the passing of time. Although perhaps no one is more aware of it than parents watching their children grow up, “Long nights, fast years so they say, time won’t ever be the same and I don’t want to miss it.” ‘Child Of Mine’ is potentially one of the most beautiful songs Marling has ever written, on one of her best albums yet. Following the opening track is the album’s lead single, the thoughtful, hypnotic finger-picked Patterns, which pays tribute to motherhood and the never-ending cycle of life and death.
With gentle guitar strings and quiet, clear vocals, she sings adoringly of her daughter’s “squared toes” and “family nose.” Marling’s voice warms the ears and the heart as she sings “To have your children, your flock of birds…as the years go by they’ll look upon you like a friend, a pattern in repeat and never ends.” She encapsulates in a song the love she has for her daughter, and the future she envisions of her daughter experiencing a similar love for her own children one day, “we’re patterns in repeat, and we’ll always be.”
Marling continues to bring us on a journey through the different stages of life in ‘Patterns in Repeat’. With tracks such as ‘Your Girl’, which is an ode to relationships with parents and how despite growing up and venturing out on our own “and here I walk alone into the world”, we will always remain our parents’ child, which she cements in the chorus singing “I’ll always be your girl.” And the song ‘Caroline’, which Marling debuted on Later…with Jools Holland, is both lovely and haunting with its plucks of the guitar and accompanying strings. It is written from the perspective of an old man reminiscing on an ex-lover reaching out to them after many years, “I’d like you not to call again, I’d like to keep you off my mind, you’re the one who went away Caroline, so the song was forgotten over time.” Carrying undertones of Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen, one can’t help but feel nostalgic for past relationships and wondering how different our lives would be should they have worked out.
Similarly, the track Looking Back, written by Marling’s father when he was younger, is a steady reminder that while we continue through the different chapters of our lives, our parents went through all of these chapters before us. One of the more agonising songs on the album, Looking Back is beautifully devastating and reflective - “Now I’m a prisoner in this chair, confined to younger faces…looking back, that’s all I do.” It hits us with the heart-breaking realisation that our parents do not live forever, a fact we are all aware of but will tend to hide from.
Marling’s Patterns in Repeat is heart-achingly beautiful and feels somewhat softer, in a way, because so many parts of it were written for and about her daughter. She uses her ethereal voice and guitar strings to paint an intricate picture of childhood, parents, the passing of time and perhaps the most prominent feature, the unknown joy, terror and change that comes with motherhood. Marling welcomes these changes by closing the album with the title track, making a statement by singing “I want you to know that I gave it up willingly, nothing real was lost in the bringing of you to me.”
Patterns in Repeat is a vulnerable, breath-taking and, at times, difficult listen. The sudden urge to call your parents and hug your mother after listening to this album is almost unavoidable. Having mentioned the possibility of giving up music to focus on motherhood in a recent interview, this potentially may be the last chapter in Marling’s 15-year music career. Whether or not Patterns in Repeat is her last album is anyone’s guess, but one thing is certain, she’s left us with something golden.
Words by Angela English
