Laura Marling

At the start of the year, when I was doing my list of singer-songwriter tips for 2007, I kept getting recommended Laura Marling as another good ‘hopeful’. But I never really got round to checking her out. Until the other night. On Monday she was in the Xfm studio, playing a live session for John Kennedy and I was again on hand to hit ‘record’ on the radio. So now I have a couple of tracks to judge her on.

And the verdict? She’s alright really. Nothing special or remarkable, but she manages a decent tune. On She’s Changed, Laura actually reminded me a wee bit of Beth Orton. But in today’s music world she’s much more likely to get compared to Kate Nash, what with her playing acoustic guitar, not singing in the Queen’s English and having a song called London Town.

However, despite the capital-centric title of that song (and the lead track on her new EP, out this week on the so-now Way Out West label) she actually hails from Reading (for overseas readers, it’s a dull commuter town west of London, and home to one of Britain’s big corporate rock festivals). A fact that she’s actually quite proud of – “I’m quite patriotic about Reading” she declared to John Kennedy. But let’s not hold that against her too much.

Anyway, make your own mind up. I think she’s promising at least. I’d probably have gone to see her play for free tonight at Fopp on Tottenham Court Road if I wasn’t stuck in DIY hell again. Maybe there’ll be another time.

Download: Laura Marling – She’s Changed (live acoustic)
Download: Laura Marling – Heartbreaker’s Handbook

Order the London Town EP.

Photo from Laura’s myspace via Chess Club DJs.

PS. Sorry that the quality of the mp3s isn't as good as I'd normally post. Forgive the faint digital burblings and I'll have a stern word with my radio.