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When Laura Marling signed to Virgin Records at the age of seventeen an array of comparisons followed. Her age, precise diction, and quirky style led her to be typecast as just another pop starlet. But now with the release of her Mercury Prize nominated debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim it becomes clear the Brit-folk singer songwriter is anything but standard.
The opening track 'Ghosts', a spirited tale of lost love with a galloping guitar hook and subtle string arrangement, shows a strong comparison, at least by means of passion and heartfelt lyrics, to folk-rock legend Joni Mitchell. Much like Mitchell's style in early albums, Alas, I Cannot Swim centres primarily upon Marling's alluring voice and graceful acoustic guitar. With the 70s singer/songwriter vibe continuing to run throughout the album, Marling projects bohemian, earnest songs that recount stories, 'My Manic And I', adapt proverbial poems, 'Tap At My Window', and generate mass sing-alongs, 'Cross Your Fingers'. The shiver-inducing vocals that reside each track compliment the instrumental lines and delve deep into a manner of universal topics from religion and parents to love and romance. Subtlety remains very much the key as far the instrumental side of the album is concerned, with tracks such as the haunting 'Night Terror' and 'Your Only Doll (Dora)' demonstrating glorious shifts from solo and delicate acoustic passages to full-band sections and melancholy strings with great ease and strong effect.
Although deeply influenced by other great artists Laura never falls under the weight of her predecessors and totally holds her own with beautifully crafted songs. Pushing the boundaries of modern-day folk to the limits Alas, I Cannot Swim is a contemporary classic that with its timeless content and universal themes will be revisited and enjoyed for decades to come. - Limited run of 5,000 Song Boxes designed inside and out by Laura containing:
- CD copy of the album
- Mementos to each song on the new album
- Ghosts
- Old Stone
- Tap At My Window
- Failure
- You're No God
- Cross Your Fingers
- (Interlude) Crawled Out Of The Sea
- My Manic And I
- Night Terror
- The Captain And The Hourglass
- Shine
- Your Only Doll (Dora)
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