Artist Alert: Laura Marling
If you think country and folk music have died, you are wrong there. Laura Marling gives you the boho chic vibe fused with folklore. She is a singer -songwriter and musician from Eversley, Hampshire. She learnt the guitar at an early age and you will always see her perform with her classic acoustic on stage. Her guitar isn’t just an instrument; it is an extension of her. When she was younger, she soon joined a cluster of intertwined bands that were drawn to acoustic instruments and tradition-tinged melodies
Marling joined the original line-up of indie folk band Noah and the Whale and appeared as a background vocalist. But she soon found more fulfillment as a solo artist. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim was released on 4 February 2008 and later nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize. She was only 18 at the time but brimmed with the experience and emotion of someone far older than she, her more than suitable voice bringing her lyrical imagery to life. Her debut album was a very bright album, even through its several melancholic tracks. After the critical success Marling came up with four more albums in the past nine years.
After taking a short break from music, Marling came out with her latest album in 2017, Semper Femina. It's this album, and possibly best, record since she emerged at the age of 17 as part of the indie folk movement. Sumptuous and sensual, Semper Femina adds a hint of her current pop lifestyle with her delicate, acoustic melodies. Women singers, songwriters are expected to be soft, confessional, but Laura Marling brings out the wild teenager in her as she reflects female friendships and betrayal. Her music gives out a mystical and haunting flare which is visible in all her albums. Marling has revealed that she only listen to music from the years 1969 – 1972 and it plays a big role in her composition. Gothic imagery of windows and mirrors recurs in her songs; barriers you can look through or that reflect yourself back at you.
