Laura Marling
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Laura Marling

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To say that releasing three acclaimed albums by the age of 21 is a rare feat would be an understatement. Marling’s evolution as a singer-songwriter has led to each album garnering higher acclaim than its predecessor. “I think music is the core of my identity and that was obvious to me from teenage-hood,” says Marling. “I’d much rather be tucked away listening to music on my headphones than doing what other people would do,” she laughs, adding: “I don’t know what they were doing.”

Indeed, Marling has always felt different to others. She didn’t relate to her school mates in the way that most are propositioned to. Enraptured by the folk music that her father had introduced to her, Marling moved to London from Hampshire at the age of 16 to make music, humbly and honestly. The singer/guitarist bonded with like-minded musicians who possessed the same love for timeless folk music and inspired what the British music press would later term as the “nu-folk” movement.

Marling first came to the attention of indie music fans as a member of Noah And The Whale’s original line-up (she was backing vocalist on the band’s debut album – Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down). However, Marling departed the group and split with lead singer Charlie Fink before the album’s release to focus on her solo career. Her debut solo album – Alas, I Cannot Swim (2008) – would prove why leaving Noah And The Whale was the right decision as it showcased the uniqueness of Marling’s artistic vision. Despite the British press’ interest in both her former relationships with Fink and Mumford & Sons’ Marcus Mumford, Marling has remained as dignified in her expression of personal matters as she is with her craft.

In the eyes of Marling, A Creature I Don’t Know (2011) is the first record that she truly put her stamp on as she finally possessed the confidence to do so. How did it feel to find that self-confidence? “It felt like more of a relief, I guess… to know that I could trust my own opinion,” she ponders.

On her sophomore album, I Speak Because I Can (2010), Marling explored womanhood and adult responsibility with a sense of gravitas; impressively, A Creature I Don’t Know explores those themes even further and more profoundly as she contemplates the issues of devotion, betrayal, submission, rage, dependency, desire, innocence, guilt, euphoria, despair, angels, devils, family and gender roles. But as Marling demonstrates, the act of asking questions is often more important than finding answers.

“I think it was the general idea of not knowing, not understanding… that was kind of the reason why those themes came up, I guess, because I suppose from a feminine standpoint, those are the things that most people will question or I hope would question in their time. And I think especially on A Creature I Don’t Know, there’s such a lack of understanding,” she laughs. “I’m wondering.”

Marling’s love of great writers John Steinbeck and Robertson Davies inspired the tales that weave through A Creature I Don’t Know, and triggered her own drive as a writer. “I think I take a bit more from the writers that I read than maybe I should,” Marling laughs. “It’s not necessarily what they’re talking about – it’s the way they talk about it, and that’s why I get stuck in ruts of reading the same writers because I feel so comfortable with the way that they write and I really find myself sinking into it, especially with people like Robertson and Steinbeck, who have a really, really distinctive way of writing. I find that the way someone structures a sentence is really fascinating because it can be the difference between something being conveyed and you understanding it or something being so well conveyed that you feel like no one could have said it better and there’s no way it could have been phrased in a better way.”

Sophia (the name of the ancient goddess of wisdom) was the stunning first single off A Creature I Don’t Know and influenced by Robertson Davies’ The Rebel Angels. Meanwhile, Salinas can be traced to Steinbeck’s East Of Eden. “I do like hearing what people do deduce from them because sometimes I write without really knowing myself until it’s done,” Marling muses. “When I was at school, I always thought that when we were doing English and learning poetry or dissecting a novel, it was terribly unfair that there was one way of taking it in and one way of understanding it and there was a set curriculum of how you would take on this poem or how you would take on this novel. I just don’t think any writer has that much control over how words affect people. Words will affect people differently and I like that people would have their own ideas about things like that.

“In art and music, you’re completely unrestricted,” says Marling. “You can do anything to get a point across. There are bits on this album that feel more emotional and intense; there are some bits that I wrote with quite a light heart and lots I wrote with a heavy heart. It’s a nice mix and when we play live, we try and play most of the songs in order or close to being in order.”

Marling returns to our shores for the Laneway Festival as well as a special performance at The Forum Theatre. As Feist will be joining Marling at Laneway (they released two of last year’s finest albums), I ask her whether Leslie Feist is an artist that Marling derives inspiration from: “Yeah, very much so… I was a huge fan of the stuff that she used to do with Broken Social Scene. She’s amazing.”

Marling’s versatility on A Creature I Don’t Know and the timeless quality of her songs have seen her mentioned in the same breath as PJ Harvey, Tori Amos and Fiona Apple. PJ Harvey’s latest album, Let England Shake, was viewed by many as the album of 2011 – how much does Marling draw from such a strong, uncompromising artist? “PJ Harvey set a path and a standard that I find very interesting, and she’s great – actually, I haven’t gotten that far into her music and that’s just because I haven’t got around to it yet,” admits Marling. “And she’s the kind of artist where you have to buy them all – you can’t just try one,” she laughs, “so I’m working on that.

“Women singer-songwriters get bracketed into a genre; it happens all the time and I’m really glad that there are stand-out people like PJ Harvey and to some extent, people like Björk who are doing interesting things; you can’t put them in a bracket with straight-down-the-line pop artists because they’re just doing something more exciting.”

Infused with both the beauty and darkness of A Creature I Don’t Know, Marling’s guitar playing is more haunting, distinctive and expressive on her latest masterpiece. “I made a conscious effort between the last album and this one to play a different style of guitar,” she relates. “I was playing on a nylon string guitar this time; the first style of guitar that I learnt was classical guitar, so it was quite strange in a way to go back to a Spanish guitar and it’s a completely different tone. The older I get, the more I play the guitar…and the easier it comes.”

In the next few months, Marling’s hectic touring schedule will include performing at the Coachella Festival and supporting Andrew Bird. “We toured with him about two years ago,” Marling recalls, “and when I went on tour with him, I think I had two of his albums. And then we were helping him set up his merch after the shows and the guy has like ten albums,” she laughs. “They’re all bizarre and amazing.”

As much as she adores Bird, the one artist whom she remains utterly awe-stricken by – even after having the privilege of touring with the music icon – is Neil Young. “It was really, really surreal – you know when someone’s been such a figure in your life that they don’t appear in a justified reality anymore? You can’t really consider them walking around or drinking tea or doing whatever people do,” Marling laughs. “And in a way, I wanted it to remain like that – I only really met him for about five minutes when I toured with him for four shows… on the last day, I managed to summon up some courage and say hello. I managed to let him remain a mythical being in my head.”

BY CHRISTINE LAN