A distinctive chinking rhythm . . . a loping bass sidles in . . . another bass harmonises. Into this enticing mix, Laura Marling’s sweet but tough voice commences: “Oh, my hopeless wanderer . . .” A yearning first verse . . . Then, underpinned by emerging soft keys and acoustic and strings, swelling to announce . . . completely unexpectedly, fully unbidden, her voice reaches up to seek the truth:
I need soothing
My lips aren’t moving
My god is brooding
What a revelation! The song unfolds in full splendour but it’s that incandescent opener, the first offering from Marling’s new album, Semper Femina, that latches on, that could well stay with me forever.