Laura Marling returns with UK tour dates and new single 'Soothing'

The 26-year-old English folk musician Laura Marling will release her sixth studio album Semper Femina on March 10, just two days after the start of her tour in Leeds and Bristol. After the album's release, the tour continues on to Glasgow, Manchester, Oxford, Birmingham, Brighton, London and Salisbury.

In an email to The Fader, Marling wrote, "I started out writing Semper Femina as if a man was writing about a woman. And then I thought it’s not a man, it’s me — I don’t need to pretend it’s a man to justify the intimacy of the way I’m looking and feeling about women. It’s me looking specifically at women and feeling great empathy towards them and by proxy towards myself.” It appears that the album, meaning "Always A Woman" in Latin, will dive into ever-relevant themes of gender and sexuality.

The album follows the success of her 2015 record Short Movie, which featured her playing the electric guitar for the first time. Marling was nominated for the Best Female Solo Artist Award at the 2016 Brit Awards because of her musicianship on Short Movie.

Tickets will go on sale at 10.00am on December 2.

Check out the record's first single 'Soothing' below!

Twitter is lighting up with news of Laura's new album!

NEW LAURA MARLING! ?? pic.twitter.com/nLw4T1iMzN

— My Little Empire (@MLE_Records) November 28, 2016

Surprise! Laura Marling's announced her sixth album 'Semper Femina'. https://t.co/sR18ZJ0ZNI pic.twitter.com/wmfK5J49DP

— DIY (@diymagazine) November 28, 2016

#JustAdded BRAND NEW @lauramarlinghq 'Soothing' - head to the blog for news on album & tour too #SemperFemina https://t.co/ehPQexVjCX pic.twitter.com/9dy8u1bApl

— 6Music 10-1300 (@BBC6MorningShow) November 28, 2016