Semper Femina
2017 studio album by Laura Marling
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Semper Femina is the sixth studio album by British singer-songwriter, Laura Marling, and was released on 10 March 2017, on More Alarming Records. The album was produced by Blake Mills. The album's title is taken from the song "Nouel".
| Semper Femina | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 10 March 2017 | |||
| Recorded | 2016 | |||
| Genre | Folk, folk rock, alternative rock | |||
| Length | 42:19 | |||
| Label | More Alarming Records | |||
| Producer | Blake Mills | |||
| Laura Marling chronology | ||||
| ||||
Themes
Described by Alexis Petridis of The Guardian as a "concept album about femininity and female relationships",[1] the title Semper Femina, borrowed from the ancient poet Virgil, is an expression from a longer line of Latin poetry, which roughly translates to "woman is ever a fickle and changeable thing".[2]
Reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 8.2/10[3] |
| Metacritic | 85/100[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| The A.V. Club | A[6] |
| The Daily Telegraph |  [7] |
| The Guardian | [1] |
| The Independent | [8] |
| NME | [9] |
| The Observer | [10] |
| Pitchfork | 7.7/10[11] |
| Q | [12] |
| Rolling Stone | [13] |
Semper Femina received critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 85, based on 31 reviews.[4]
The album earned Marling a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album nomination.
Accolades
In The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop, a poll regarding the best albums of the year as voted by more than 400 American music critics, Semper Femina tied with Valerie June's The Order of Time (2017) at the 89th spot, both LPs garnering 84 points.[14]
| Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| The A.V. Club | The Best Albums of 2017 So Far | N/a | |
| ABC News | 50 Best Albums of 2017 | 31 |
|
| AllMusic | Best of 2017 | N/a | |
| Consequence of Sound | Top 50 Albums of 2017 | 27 |
|
| Digital Trends | 50 Best Albums of 2017 | 46 |
|
| Drowned in Sound | Favourite Albums of 2017 | 9 |
|
| Earbuddy | 100 Best Albums of 2017 | 74 |
|
| Esquire (UK Edition) | 50 Best Albums of 2017 | N/a | |
| Exclaim! | Top 10 Folk and Country Albums of 2017 | 3 |
|
| Fopp | The Best in 2017 | 23 |
|
| The Guardian | The Best Albums of 2017 | 19 |
|
| Mojo | 2017: The Best of the Year | 25 |
|
| musicOMH | Top 50 Albums Of 2017 | 26 |
|
| Noisey | The 100 Best Albums of 2017 | 76 |
|
| NME | NME's Albums of the Year 2017 | 49 |
|
| No Ripcord | The Best Albums of 2017 | 34 |
|
| Paste | The 50 Best Albums of 2017 | 31 |
|
| Q | Best of the Best: 2017 in Music | 42 |
|
| The Sydney Morning Herald | Top 20 Albums of 2017 | N/a | |
| Treble | The Top 50 Albums of 2017 | 45 |
|
| Uncut | Best Releases of 2017 | 21 |
|
| Under the Radar | Top 100 Albums of 2017 | 58 |
|
| The Village Voice | Pazz & Jop | 89 |
Track listing
All tracks are written by Laura Marling, except for Soothing which was written by Laura Marling and Blake Mills.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Soothing" | 4:18 |
| 2. | "The Valley" | 5:40 |
| 3. | "Wild Fire" | 4:50 |
| 4. | "Don't Pass Me By" | 5:10 |
| 5. | "Always This Way" | 4:33 |
| 6. | "Wild Once" | 4:23 |
| 7. | "Next Time" | 4:00 |
| 8. | "Nouel" | 4:53 |
| 9. | "Nothing, Not Nearly" | 4:32 |
Personnel
Musicians
- Laura Marling – vocals, guitar
- Matt Ingram – drums
- Nick Pini – bass
- Pete Randall – guitar
- Blake Mills – guitar
- Rob Moose – strings, arrangements
- Matt Chamberlain – additional drums
- Sebastian Steinberg – additional bass
Charts
| Chart (2017) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[37] | 19 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[38] | 53 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[39] | 21 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[40] | 153 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[41] | 22 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[42] | 113 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[43] | 42 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[44] | 9 |
| New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[45] | 5 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[46] | 4 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[47] | 46 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[48] | 5 |
| US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[49] | 66 |