Semper Femina

Last updated
Semper Femina
Semper Femina - Laura Marling.jpg
Studio album by
Released10 March 2017 (2017-03-10)
Recorded2016
Genre Folk, folk rock, alternative rock
Length42:19
Label More Alarming Records
Producer Blake Mills
Laura Marling chronology
Short Movie
(2015)
Semper Femina
(2017)
Song for Our Daughter
(2020)

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".

Contents

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

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic? 8.2/10 [3]
Metacritic 85/100 [4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]
The A.V. Club A [6]
The Daily Telegraph Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Independent Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [8]
NME Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [9]
The Observer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Pitchfork 7.7/10 [11]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [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]

PublicationAccoladeRankRef.
The A.V. Club The Best Albums of 2017 So FarN/A
ABC News 50 Best Albums of 2017
31
AllMusic Best of 2017N/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
Earbuddy100 Best Albums of 2017
74
Esquire (UK Edition) 50 Best Albums of 2017N/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 RipcordThe 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 2017N/A
TrebleThe 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.TitleLength
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

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

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