Laura Marling – Alas, I Cannot Swim (2008)

Laura Marling seems to name her albums with names that come early in the alphabet, because this is already the second album by her in this blog. Alas, I Cannot Swim is probably my favourite album of hers. The sounds are very authentic and folky and there aren't that many studio tricks. The music speaks for itself. Marling's voice is easily audible so you can enjoy her lyrics. I also like the fact that you can recognise all the instruments and really hear how they've been played. This kind of purist approach appealed to me a lot when I had just moved to London. I found a whole bunch of artists that relied on songwriting and their musical abilities without trying to convert their sounds into something crazy. I like the fact that the album sounds like Marling would just perform in your living room. This is Marling's debut album and that is quite impressive as she sounds like such a professional on it.


The album was fairly well-received and it was even nominated for a Mercury Prize. This is quite good for a no-nonsense folk album where the main focus is on vocals, lyrics and acoustic guitar. There are, however, also some excellent string arrangements on this album. I haven't seen Laura Marling live yet, because I only started listening to her music quite late, but in case she tours in London soon, I will most likely want to see her live even if her more recent albums haven't been as good as these earlier ones.

The album starts with a perky song Ghost that sounds a lot like Emmy the Great. Old Stone is more purist folk song with some amazing soulful singing. Tap At My Window shows a more intimate approach to music. The beautiful strings give nice spice to the country-influenced song. Failure is one of my favourite songs and it sounds a lot like one of my other favourite singer-songwriters, Aimee Mann. You're No God has some smoothly rolling country drumming and reminds me of First Aid Kit. Cross your Fingers is probably the most band-effort on this album. There are some great little hooks in this song. My Manic and I is an amazingly dark song where Marling's voice really shows it's potential. It has this air of old folk songs that have lived through the ages. Night Terror continues this darker side of Marling's minor-filled composing. There are some excellent vocals in this song. The Captain and the Hourglass reminds me of Regina Spektor's music with the tick-tick-tick lyrics. The fiddle is quite phenomenal.

I should really watch more Laura Marling music videos, because it seems like she has some great ones. My Manic and I has a great video showing a dark animation with some quite gothic imagery. Marling herself is playing the song in an armchair and following the storyline in a miniature theatre. The video looks like it's been shot with an old video camera that has that old-timer movie theatre blinking.

I don't really know that much about Laura Marling and I've only listened to her music for quite a short while and that's why I don't have that much to say about this album, but I really do like her music and this is probably my favourite album by her.

Listen to the album on Spotify.