Laura Marling: New Romantic
“I don’t really care about any other bands after this, ken?”
Such were the words of one punter making his way to the front of the Futures Tent in preparation for new-folk darling, Laura Marling. Seemed he wasn’t the only one. Despite there being at least ten minutes until Marling and her band were due on stage, the tent was packed and the crowd’s excited whispers were all I could hear.
Marling arrived on stage and launched straight into Devil’s Spoke, her fragile frame belying her powerful stage presence. It’s hard not to just rehash every other description of Marling but it’s all true. She is older than her years. She does look ethereal on stage. And her songs really are beautiful.
However, her powerful presence was hindered by her live mix. The 20 year old may have looked ethereal, but we couldn’t hear a damned thing for almost half the set. Either there were no vocals or no guitar, and both are fairly crucial in Marling’s particular brand of stripped back, acoustic led organic rock.
Luckily, the sound troubles were eventually sorted out, revealing the poetic lyrics and pretty fingerpicking that had been hiding until that point. Perhaps to prove a point, Marling even played a stunning couple of numbers with no backing but her guitar.
The crowd sang along, word-perfect, to most of the set, prompting smiles from the obviously touched singer-songwriter and the exclamation that “This has easily been the best festival for us so far!” and the seemingly heartfelt “You’ve been so kind to us, thank you!”.
Finishing with latest hit I Speak Because I Can, of the number four album of the same name, Marling left her already devoted following wanting more, and converted a few more to her church.
