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So it's finally here, the first single from Laura Marling's third album 'A Creature I Don't Know' which comes out on September 12th.

Reviews Editor Emily Mackay described the album as containing "more weight, darkness, humour and playfulness than ever before." So is that reflected in 'Sophia'?

The delicate opening chords and the lyrics, which speak of a lover's betrayal and the aftermath of an unfulfilling one night stand ("Who's been touching my skin?/ Who have I been letting in?/ Shy and tired eyed am I today") sound bound up in the same rum, post-coital world of 'I Speak Because I Can'.

But very quickly, the track grows wings and flies out of the shadowy hinterlands of that album. Electric guitars, a string quartet and multi-tracked Lauras swoop in, suggesting a new sturdiness and defiance in the singer's outlook.

Soon after the track mutates into a kind of country-rock anthem. Jangly guitars hip-pop next to each other, whilst Marling's harmonies shimmer Linda Ronstadt-like all the while intoning the name of the song's heroine.

'Sophia' plunges into depths Marling's not gone to before and on repeated listens reveals itself to be a work of complex, risk-taking beauty.

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Date/Time	Venue	Town/City	Seetickets	Viagogo
Mar 01, 2012 19:00	Corn Exchange Cambridge	Cambridge	Tickets not currently available.	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £29
Mar 01, 2012 19:00	Corn Exchange	Bedford	Buy Laura Marling Tickets	Buy Laura Marling Tickets
Mar 02, 2012 19:00	Birmingham Symphony Hall	Birmingham	Buy Laura Marling Tickets	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £27
Mar 03, 2012 19:00	Colston Hall	Bristol	Buy Laura Marling Tickets	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £27
Mar 05, 2012 19:00	The Sage Gateshead	Gateshead	Tickets not currently available.	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £39
Mar 05, 2012 19:00	The Sage	Gateshead	Buy Laura Marling Tickets	Buy Laura Marling Tickets
Mar 06, 2012 19:00	O2 Academy Leeds	Leeds	Buy Laura Marling Tickets	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £21
Mar 07, 2012 19:00	Hmv Hammersmith Apollo	London	Tickets not currently available.	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £18
Mar 07, 2012 19:00	Hammersmith Apollo	Hammersmith	Buy Laura Marling Tickets	Buy Laura Marling Tickets
Mar 09, 2012 19:00	O2 Apollo Manchester	Manchester	Tickets not currently available.	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £17
Mar 09, 2012 19:00	O2 Apollo	Manchester	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £21	Buy Laura Marling Tickets
Mar 10, 2012 19:00	O2 Academy Glasgow	Glasgow	Tickets not currently available.	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £28
Mar 10, 2012 19:30	O2 Academy Glasgow	Glasgow	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £21	Buy Laura Marling Tickets
Mar 11, 2012 19:00	Victoria Hall	Stoke	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £20	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £28
Mar 13, 2012 19:00	Nottingham Royal Centre	Nottingham	Tickets not currently available.	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £62
Mar 13, 2012 19:00	Royal Concert Hall	Glasgow	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £27	Buy Laura Marling Tickets
Mar 13, 2012 19:00	Nottingham Royal Concert Hall	Nottingham	Tickets not currently available.	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £34
Mar 14, 2012 19:00	Southampton Guildhall	Southampton	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £20	Buy Laura Marling Tickets from £15