Once I Was an Eagle is the fourth studio album by British singer-songwriter Laura Marling, and was released on 27 May (US/Canada, 28 May) 2013.
[4] Marling began debuting songs from Once I Was An Eagle, as early as mid-late 2011, before the release of her third album, A Creature I Don't Know.
Many critics have noted that the first half feels more like a continuous idea, intensified by the first four songs ("Take The Night Off", "I Was An Eagle", "You Know" and "Breathe") which flow together as one.
[7] Long time collaborators, Fred & Nick, created an 18-minute film called When Brave Bird Saved, written and directed by the pair, which was a "visual introduction" to the first four songs on the album, "Take The Night Off", "I Was an Eagle", "You Know" and "Breathe".
"[27] The Irish Times said, "whether she is softly crooning over a plucked guitar or dabbling with organs and percussion for quietly cacophonous climaxes, Marling is never less than captivating.
"[28] Slant gave the album four and a half stars out of five, and called it, "close to a masterpiece, a heavenly composition with just enough hell to keep things from feeling too familiar.
"[29] musicOMH's Matt Langham, awarding the record four and a half stars out of five, wrote: "It is a work that cements her reputation as one of the country’s leading singer-songwriters.
This, of course, is a standing that’s earned and age-blind… The songs are seemingly plucked as easily as ripe fruit from a branch, but this belies their focus; it’s likely to be as powerful and unified a passage of music as you’ll hear all year.
"[30] This Is Fake DIY awarded it nine stars out of ten, and said: "Compare her to Bob Dylan all you like, but to issue a bold statement, Marling here proves herself, not as a product, but as an equal.
Further down the line, it seems likely that on the emergence of another deceptively quiet young songstress with lyrics that stab and capture minds, the words on everyone’s lips will be 'this sounds like Laura Marling' instead.
"[31] The Daily Telegraph gave it five stars out of five, Neil McCormick writing, "I can’t quite pin down this album and that is one of the most appealing things about it.
Her songs are liquid and amorphous, prone to shape-shifting, rarely offering up an obvious verse and chorus symmetry, or easy interpretation.
Marling and producer Ethan Johns have opted for a sparse uniformity of guitars, hand percussion and cello.
"[21] The Guardian awarded it four out of five stars, saying, "There are a couple of moments where she still feels like the sum total of a very tasteful record collection, where she struggles to make herself heard over the echoes of Joni Mitchell and Dylan's thin wild mercury sound.
"[35] All tracks are written by Laura Marling, except for "Interlude" by Ethan Johns[53] As of March 2015 it has sold 31,000 copies in United States.