Devil's Spoke

This bluesy track introduces Marling's second studio album. It's a lonely, lusty tune that ends with two lovers "Eye to eye, nose to nose, ripping off each others clothes in a most peculiar way." Marling admits the idea came from a time when she tried to salvage a bad relationship. She told Daniel Rachel (The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters): "Soon after writing that song I stopped romanticizing situations. It was an embellished situation in my life: the classic unchangeable, awful man."

In an interview with Mojo magazine, the interviewer said "Devil's Spoke" sounded extremely folky. Laura Marling explained the song came about directly because folk singer and actor Johnny Flynn had taught her that tuning, "and he's very into folk music. So, honestly, I think I was trying to impress Johnny, maybe." Marling went on to reflect humbly on her tenuous connection to the genre. "I know Bob Dylan and all those people came from what's loosely called the 'folk tradition,' but I'm really just the echo of the echo of the echo of that. I'm so far removed from it."