8/10

Throughout her illustrious career, Laura Marling has always used personal and relatable experiences in which to craft her music. With love and relationships a consistent theme within her lyrical compositions, she has spent the last two decades offering up some beautifully emotive odes, moving from adolescence straight through to young womanhood. But with the birth of her daughter in February last year, she now adopts a new focus with her eighth studio album 'Patterns In Repeat', a record that puts her new family dynamic front and centre of her inspiration.

Keeping much of the same wistful folk-pop aesthetic she has earned a reputation for, 'Patterns In Repeat' instantly feels like a far more uplifting and joyful offering from Marling. While normally one to get locked up in her own thoughts and insecurities, the focus of this release is firmly on her child, capturing the jarring yet euphoric experiences of being a new mother. While it certainly feels like a bold step forward within her sound to date, Laura Marling has always used her music as benchmarks for her current situations, giving us a real insight into the thoughts and feelings she has been feeling this past year.

Certainly one of her more emotive offerings to date, 'Patterns In Repeat' has the instant feeling of an artist wildly content with her life at the moment. With each song not looking to disturb the simple tranquility, Laura Marling sounds rejuvenated here, brimming with a brighter outlook on life throughout.