The British darling Laura Marling… It all started with Alas I Cannot Swim, her very first album release in 2008. The album is delicate, honest, poetic. But that’s Marling’s sound all across her discography. She’s an intense singer-songwriter, spilling out her heart with a crystal-clear angelic voice, which only seems to get stronger and more mature as each album comes along, which you can instantly hear in her sophomore album and well beyond.

Her seriousness is obvious, especially for a 26 year-old. But that’s just her in her entirety–sophisticated, romantic and yet lonely, in a way. Her songs tell such heartfelt stories–love oozing from them in every sort of way, even if a touch more “aggressive” as heard in songs like “Master Hunter” from Once I Was an Eagle or “Strange” from her latest record last year.

After living in LA for a while, taking a break from music to do some soul-searching, and then realizing how disconnected she felt there, Marling went back to England–back to the place that first inspired her artistic path. But traveling, it seems, is very much an intuitive thing–a venture into the unknown that seems to stir her soul, and therefore her music to come. In the song “How Can I” she sings, “I’m taking more risks now. I’m stepping out of line. I put up my fists now, until I get what’s mine. Should have been you, could have been anyone. You see I never missed my chance to run. I would go anywhere with you. I would go when you ask me too. How will I live without you? How will I live?” And it’s just like that, again and again, that Laura Marling leaves you cradling your heart, awe-struck.

Brooklyn Steel

5/20

7 p.m.

$25

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