Song of the Day 29/12/2008

Laura Marling - Ghosts



At Field Day '07 I watched Laura Marling perform a short solo set perched on a wonky hay bale. I mean, she was perched on a hay bale. Well, I was too, but that's by the by. She was simply fantastic and gave a performance worthy of the main stage rather than a shady, closed-in corner of Victoria Park... you could tell, at just 17 with a stunning voice and a unique poetry to her lyrics, she was destined for great things.

So, skipping forward to Field Day '08 - and post release of her already Mercury Prize nominated debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim - it was no surprise to find Miss Marling (now with backing band) on the Converse Main Stage. With crowds, crowds, of Field Dayers singing along in the rain. It was a wet and bustling experience but none of the intimate intensity from the previous year's set was lost; listening to Laura Marling sing takes you away somewhere else.

Which means that at the #2 spot in my end of year countdown is Ghosts, the first track taken from Alas, I Cannot Swim, and my favourite. Throughout each of the album's songs runs a skein of romance, whether that be the dark, wistful or tragic kind... apparently Laura reads a lot of Brontë. Ghosts tells an understated, honest tale of the ever-present memory of lost love, all carried along by a contrastingly harmonic and galloping melody. It's just beautiful.

And, as you may've gathered, I'm a sucker for an animated video so this offering with its singing skulls, neon bright clouds and floating ghosts gets a huge amount of SotD love. Cool as folk.