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I only started listening to Laura in the spring of 2011, on Grooveshark in my little bedroom in Madrid. She released her first album in 2008, when she was just 18, my age that year. I had begun my small foray into music of the London folk scene not too long before, mainly listening to Mumford & Sons and the odd song by Noah and the Whale. I had been following a few Twitter accounts of Mumford fans, and one Welsh girl in particular would just NOT SHUT UP about how wonderful Laura Marling was. I started to get almost annoyed, thinking that this Laura person couldn't possibly be that great. I caved and looked her up on YouTube, coming upon the music video for the song "New Romantic." In the video, a small, fair girl who looked to be about 16 sat alone in a grey, empty room on a chair. She plucked an acoustic guitar with a haunted look on her face. She began to sing with a stronger, deeper, purer voice than I expected from this doll-like person. The song was about regret, about mistakes made, about love fading and about the pain that comes with love. I was so impressed with this song; it was so sad and so beautiful, and it stayed in my head for days. How, I thought, could this 18-year-old girl have such talent?
In the following months, I listened to her first album, Alas, I Cannot Swim, on repeat, discovering new gems like "Ghosts," "Night Terror," and "My Manic and I," the last of which played in my head all through my trip to Geneva ("He wants to die in a lake in Geneva" is the first line in the song). I found the songs to be incredibly thought-provoking and delicate, bright and pretty yet sad and shadowy, and very different from anything else I had been listening to. I realized some time later that the backing vocals were the familiar voices of Marcus Mumford and Winston Marshall, as well as Charlie Fink from Noah and the Whale, who also produced the album. The blend of their voices is wonderful, just absolute perfection. After a time I explored her second album, I Speak Because I Can. It has a similar haunted, dark feeling to it, but her growth as a songwriter is evidenced by the weaving, huge harmonies and new instrumentation. While Alas was more about not understanding one's self, I Speak is much more self-assured, with lyrics like "Let it always be known that I was who I am" and "I tried to be a girl who likes to be used/I'm too good for that." Songs like "Hope In The Air" swell with harmony and passion. "Alpha Shallows" I can only describe as sounding like rain, then a thunderstorm, and then the sun finally emerging from behind the clouds. "Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)", one of my favorite songs by any artist, is a nostalgic look back on leaving behind a life and a lover and understanding that sometimes you have to leave, because you are worth more than what you have. The last (and title) track is just beautiful, and she still ends her shows with this song. It starts at an almost whisper, sad and dark ("My husband left me last night..."), and builds and builds to this massive, almost euphoric cry of regret.
Her latest album, A Creature I Don't Know, was released in September of 2011. The album's first single, "Sophia," came to me in early August, as I was moving into my new apartment, starting over after a bad situation in my previous apartment. I had no furniture and no internet to download the song, so I listened to "Sophia" on repeat for days through my phone. It was the most beautiful song I had heard in a long time, and had so many layers it was almost like a symphony, with movements, beginning quiet and dark and gradually picking up speed until it seemed to be this bright, ethereal celebration. It's hard to describe; it just makes me really happy. ACIDK truly showcases Laura Marling's songwriting prowess. It has more of an overarching theme, which is the struggle of human passions and the decisions people make because of them and a call for redemption. There are repeated mentions of "The Beast" and women calling out to the goddess of wisdom, Sophia, for strength. The album is, as Laura has said, conversations with people you will never meet. It is a definite departure from "folk," as it incorporates hefty amounts of bluegrass, jazz, and even, I think, a touch of metal, especially in "The Beast," a truly, well, badass song. The album takes place in a dusty land where mortals and gods and devils all come together and love and fight.
It was with ACIDK that I first came to see Laura live. It was in September of 2011, shortly after the album's release. I convinced (it wasn't difficult) a few friends to see her with me. I had never felt quite so anxious before seeing another artist live. I held her in such esteem that I wasn't sure I could handle being in her presence. Sure enough, when she walked on stage at Lincoln Hall I abruptly stopped speaking and could barely move until the last half of her set, when I managed to get my camera out to have documented proof that the night did happen. She was small and blonde and beautiful, and her voice and playing were perfect. She isn't one for stage banter, and she admitted this to the crowd, as well as that she often isn't sure what to say so she just speaks in facts. She was surprisingly funny when she did speak. At one point during the show one of her band members said something that started her giggling uncontrollably; this was made worse when "Someone down front just said 'dead puppies'!" This made it quite difficult for her to play the serious, quiet beginning of "Sophia," but she sobered in time for the build of the song. She was quite good at connecting with the audience; when she began "Ghosts" everyone started singing along to the quick lyrics, and she complemented us. It was just a perfect show and I was so happy. A group of us tried waiting outside the venue after the show to meet her, but aside from glimpsing her step outside for a smoke, she eluded us and we went home, thoroughly satisfied anyway.
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| Some of my photos from the show |
The second time I saw her, she was opening for Florence + The Machine at the Chicago Theater. As I mentioned in my Florence blog, I found out that they were on the bill together and made an effort to buy tickets but gave up when the tickets I would have gotten were too far away for the price I would have to pay. When Laura's label, Ribbon Music, tweeted that they were giving away a pair of tickets to the show to whoever retweeted with the best reason why they should get the tickets, I must have tweeted them ten times detailing my love for Laura, including how once I was describing her music to a coworker on the L and another passenger overheard and asked me about her because I seemed so passionate. Needless to say, I won. On the day of the show, I met up with my friend Hannah, who I had met at the first Laura show, had forgotten about, and had met again at a Noah and the Whale show (this time we stayed in contact). She had actually bought the ticket and had a good seat. My friend Pam joined us, knowing only a few Laura songs but very excited to see her regardless. When Laura took to the stage, it was just her and her guitar in front of the massive black curtain, playing to a room of hundreds (thousands?) of people. Her acoustic set was much different from when I first saw her; not only was it shorter because she was the opener this time, but she did many of her slower songs and quite a few new ones. It was simply beautiful and I wanted to personally shut the mouths of all the people in the theater who talked through all the music, and to Laura paid little mind. Clearly they did not understand the gift they were being given at that moment. All too soon, it was over, and to be honest I was satisfied for the night. But then, of course, Florence happened, but you already know about that.
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| A talented white blob... |
Last night, finally. You've been patient, dear readers.
Laura has just been touring this album for so long. I didn't expect to see her so soon after the December show, but she came back to this lovely city again, probably because she likes Intelligentsia coffee so much. Hannah told me about the show back in March and bought us a pair of tickets when they went on presale. Months of waiting ensued, and I got caught up in newly discovered artists and wasn't listening to Laura as much. Now and then, though, her music would pop up and I would be sent back into her world, the music swirling around me like a shimmering swirly thing. Finally, yesterday, the day had come. I was so excited/nervous that I had butterflies in my stomach all day, my anxiety a product of getting to see Laura and my ongoing, fruitless search for employment. I was in such a state in my apartment that I decided to leave earlier than I had planned, which was fairly early. I wanted to meet her (though I had no idea what I would say) and I knew my best chance of that was getting to the venue early as opposed to waiting after theshow. My plan was to go to the Lakeview Intelligentsia in case there was a small chance that Laura would be there enjoying her espresso. She wasn't, of course, but I bought a much-needed iced tea (it was over 90 degrees outside) and hopped on the bus to the Athenaeum Theater. I was there early. Really early. It was assigned seating so it wasn't as if people would have been lined up to get a good spot. I chatted with the XRT intern that was there punching holes in the sign he was to hang, and then I wandered to the side of the theater and found the stage door, which was behind a fence and the building's dumpsters. I stood against a nearby tree and waited.
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| The venue, which I did not know existed before this show. It's great. |
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| Going to frame this and hang it somewhere nice. |
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| Willie Mason |
She didn't play many songs from her first album. In fact, I think she only did "Alas, I Cannot Swim." She began it by herself with the band joining in for the end, and by then she was smiling. After three or four songs, the band left Laura alone on the stage, sitting on her stool under the single spotlight. At this time she played "Night After Night," the first song I ever heard from ACIDK. It's one of those songs that needs nothing more than a voice and a guitar, and in fact, anything more would ruin the tone of the song. She played a medley of two new songs of hers, and I took out my camera and began to film, only to put it away after about thirty seconds in order to fully enjoy. She played "Goodbye England" during this solo set as well, and I have to admit, as someone who never cries at music, movies, almost anything, I got a bit choked up. She told the audience before she began that this song was inspired by something her father told her as a girl: Up on a hill in her native Hampshire, England, one winter evening, her father told her that when he is about to die, he would like to come back to that spot just one more time. This, Laura said, was something that stuck with her over the years, and was also something quite traumatizing to say to a young child.
When her band reemerged, she introduced her band and had each member tell the audience something they'd learned recently. Her banjo player shared with us a story of how he walked into a Chicago bar and came out with a Chicago Fire t-shirt. Another member noted that he had recently read a list of "fun facts," none of which was fun, and that no fact is actually fun. Laura told us about a guidebook about Chicago architecture she had purchased, and how she had discovered that, though she really enjoys looking at it, it is quite boring to read about. As Chicago architecture enthusiast myself, it makes me very happy that she loves this aspect of my favorite city (also, I agree, it can be boring to read about).
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| Displaying his new team pride |
The show was over, and though I was sad it was done, I was so happy and grateful I was able to be there, for the third time in the last year. Hannah and I left quietly, still processing the night. I still cannot quite believe that I exchanged words with her and that she signed my ACIDK album, the album that brought me to see her. Mostly, I am glad to know that beautiful, rich, honest music still exists and am amazed that those who are most truly talented do not seem to know it themselves, that they need only to sit on a stool with sneakers on and a guitar in hand to capture the attention of hundreds of people. In fact, I am not sure that she desires this attention; however, she simply commands it.
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