Monday, March 25, 2013

English Folk on the Mississippi: New from Laura Marling

Organs (the Rhodesier the better) seem to give folk music just a little extra emotional kick. Laura Marling's recent "Where Can I Go," the single promoting her upcoming Once I was an Eagle, has just that trace of keys. But while the instrumentation might follow in the path of classics like Blood on the Tracks, it's Marling's startling voice that sets the single apart from the swathes of folk music in our postmodern era.

When I first heard her, I didn't realize Laura Marling was from Hampshire, nor that she first found her following in London. I might venture to say she sounds like Philadelphian Melody Gardot, maybe a bit of '70s Joan Baez thrown in there, too. I might be missing somebody obvious,  but the point remains - this is transnational folk, and it draws from the best of the best.