Tuesday 5 February 2008

*Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim (Album)

Laura Marling has been honing her craft for a while, even though she hasn't yet reached 18 (she's 17). She often says she can't stand to play her earlier songs because they were written in somewhat silly 'teenage folly'. But her debut album, one of my most anticipated of 2008, is written and performed with a remarkable maturity.



Offered in both regular CD form and the impressive 'songbox' (more expensive but comes with beautiful artwork, postcards, wrapping paper, a game, fold out paper patterns and more - truly magic) it is one of the most creative ways to release a record if you're steering clear of the Radiohead route.

I'm avoiding talking about tracks; 'Ghosts' 'Night Terror' and 'My Manic & I' purely because we have already gone in to them when reviewing her EP, but the album, oh the album!

The album is one of subtle diversity, intense lyrical content and beautiful melodies. It delivers both darkness and boldness in equal measures. She invokes a Bob Dylan esque spirit on 'Tap At My Window', a song that like many of hers, appears sweet on the surface until you pay closer attention and realize they are some pretty dark undertones, her songs rarely ending on a cheerful note. With other singers this could get old, but there is something so convincing about Marling.
Maybe because she makes no apologies for the more solemn side of her personality or maybe because she has revealed fairly few details about herself, either way it makes a stunning debut. Songs like, 'Failure' reveal empathy for someone whose path has not gone quite the way it should have, "He used to be a singer in a rock 'n' roll band, he would write the songs and I'd tremble at his hand" and later in the song, "just be glad you'll smile again, because so many don't".

On, 'You're No God' she picks up the pace with a freight train rhythm, 'Cross Fingers' sees her voice take a more wistful direction, becoming softer and yet equally as poignant. 'Crawl Out Of The Sea' takes on a lovers ballad of times past, while 'Captain & The Hourglass' retains a truly haunted-at-sea quality, "My friends, they don't really get me, think i'm the only one. Well I sold my soul to Jesus and since then I've had no fun."

There is something to treasure with each song on this album, its clear Marling endless questions surrounding religion, love, devotion, tolerance and maybe just life in general. She may not get the answers to her questions but she should deservedly have packed out rooms when she decides to ask these lyrical questions in front of an audience.

8½/10

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