Laura Marling - To Be A Woman (2019)

To celebrate the release of a new album by the wonderful Laura Marling, here is another collection of rare and hard to find singles, radio sessions and TV appearances. 'Flicker And Fail' was a limited edition 7" single issued for Record Store Day 2012, and despite queuing outside the  record store from 8.30a.m. I never did get a copy. Laura recorded 'Like A Rolling Stone' with Eddie Berman for his 2016 album 'Polyhymnia', but when the album came out the song was noticeable by its absence, so can only currently be heard on Youtube. 'Blues Run The Game' / 'The Needle And The Damage Done' was a limited edition 7" single released on Jack White's Third Man Records in 2010, and this time I did manage to get my hands on a copy, on import from the U.S. 'Daisy' / 'David' was a free 7" single which was included in the Director's Cut of the 2014 'Short Movie' album, and neither song really deserved to be left off the original record. Laura recorded a couple of live tracks for the eTown radio show in 2014, neither of which have ever shown up on an album, although 'Born To Love' was initially considered for 'Short Movie', and 'Colorado Girl' is a lovely cover of the Townes Van Zandt song. In 2017 she recorded covers of songs by Bob Dylan and Nick Cave for inclusion in the fourth series of the UK TV series 'Peaky Blinders', and in the same year she was included in the Spotify Singles record club, with a 7" single which paired an acoustic version of the 'Semper Femina' song 'Wild Fire' with a similarly stripped-back version of Simon & Garfunkel's 'Kathy's Song'. We end the album with her take on Mary Hopkins' 'Those Were The Days', released as part of a collection of songs inspired by the film 'Roma'. So enjoy this album of rarities by one of the UK's best singer/songwriters, and then go out and buy her brilliant new album 'Song For Our Daughter'.

Track listing

01 Flicker And Fail (Record Store Day 7" single 2012)
02 To Be A Woman (b-side of 'Flicker And Fail')
03 Bron Y Aur (from the free CD 'Physical Grafitti Redrawn' with Mojo magazine 2015)
04 Like A Rolling Stone (unreleased duet with Eddie Berman 2014) 
05 Blues Run The Game (limited single on Third Man Records 2010)
06 The Needle And The Damage Done (b-side of 'Blues Run The Game')
07 Daisy (from the free 7" single with 'Short Movie' 2014)
08 David (from the free 7" single with 'Short Movie' 2014)
09 Born To Love (recorded for the eTown radio show 2014)
10 Colorado Girl (recorded for the eTown radio show 2014)
11 A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall (recorded for 'Peaky Blinders' 2017)
12 Red Right Hand (recorded for 'Peaky Blinders' 2017)
13 Wild Fire (Spotify Singles Vol. 7 2017)
14 Kathy's Song (b-side of 'Wild Fire')
15 Those Were The Days (from 'Music Inspired By The Film "Roma" 2019)