“Semper Femina,” the title of British folk artist Laura Marling’s latest album, means “always woman” in Latin. Marling is a prolific songwriter. In recent years, she’s explored themes of introversion and anxiety in her work. In an interview with Clash Music, Marling said that her new album is “me looking specifically at women and feeling great empathy towards them, and by proxy, towards myself.” 
This new venture takes a slightly different path than her fifth release, 2015’s “Short Movie.” “Semper Femina” explores womanhood in its complexities and various social intersections. Drawing on a lusher framework than “Short Movie,” Marling enlisted producer Blake Mills (Alabama Shakes, John Legend and Fiona Apple) to add a different touch to her instrumentation. While “Short Movie” found Marling moving from her London folk sounds to a more distorted, electric guitar-driven aesthetic, “Femina” is a melding of both this discordance and the comfort her earlier music provides.
Much unlike Marling’s previous works, “Femina” is closer in content and feeling to albums like Joni Mitchell’s “Blue.” The two women are kindred spirits in a way: They both explore womanhood and the yearning that comes with being a modern woman in their music. “Blue” was released in 1971, but “Semper Femina” still explores many of the same aspects of womanhood including love and sexism.
Marling’s sound in “Femina” has taken on a slight swing feel, and her vocals are rich and soaring like Mitchell’s. In “Nouel,” Marling sings the words “semper femina” and her inflection and tone are reminiscent of “Case of You,” Mitchell’s most heartfelt ballad. “Soothing,” the opening track on “Femina” is dark like Mitchell’s “This Flight Tonight.” There are many parallels between the albums’ sounds, making it an enriching experience to listen to them back to back.
In “Wild Once,” Marling sings, “They put my hands in water / Told me I’m a god / I might be someone’s daughter / Might be somewhat odd.” This song is reminiscent of Mitchell’s adventure-seeking track “All I Want,” which opens with the lyrics: “I am on a lonely road and I am traveling, traveling, traveling, traveling / Looking for something, what can it be?”
This is not to say that Marling’s album does not stand well on its own, though. “Femina” reflects the current political and social moment in a way that “Blue” can’t. Both albums share the ideas that to be a woman in this world is to be continually searching for a place of your own, for love, for autonomy, but Marling’s effort feels less restricted by time.
Marling’s music has taken the sense of discovery that was Mitchell’s niche in “Blue” and made it accessible for another generation of women. Similar to how Mitchell was a pioneering woman in music, with her collaborations with jazz artists like Charles Mingus, Marling is also redefining what it means to be a modern female musician. She recently wrote the score for a play in London about two feuding queens and recorded a podcast series called “Reversal of the Muse: An Exploration of the Femininity in Creativity” about women in the arts. These contributions to the art world make Marling an important voice in general, not just an important feminine one.
“Semper Femina” is a wonderful and rich search for meaning in womanhood. By exploring the many facets of love and identity, Marling is making a statement that womanhood is not defined by any one thing. Like her Canadian predecessor does in “Blue,” “Semper Femina” is Marling asking the world, “Do you take me as I am?”
If the answer is no, then the world is surely missing out.
Watch the lyric video for “Wild Fire” below:

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Laura Marling’s newest album ‘Semper Femina’ explores womanhood in a similar style to Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue,’ but feels more timely than her predecessor’s work. (Image courtesy of Laura Marling)