Click here to listen to Laura Marling's track Ghosts
Who is she? A singer-songwriter from Berkshire. Of all the words written about the 18-year-old in the past year, the ones about her being exceptionally gifted for one so young have become the most tedious, perpetuating the idea that a teenager writing songs can't be possessed of perception, descriptive power and creative fearlessness. Marling is exceptional because, well, because she's exceptional. Songs such as Night Terror, which wrestles with depression and addiction as a ghostly violin saws violently above, are breathtaking in their clarity. Her music is wintry, rustic folk that has moved to a city it doesn't know. Alas, I Cannot Swim, her debut album, is a must-buy.
When's the record out? Alas, I Cannot Swim is out tomorrow on Virgin; www.lauramarling.com .