Marling of the crowd (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Marling of the crowd

4:37pm Thursday 24th January 2008 in News & Previews By Nancy Groves

Pop predictions are a self-fulfilling prophecy. Every January, style mags, music critics and radio playlisters club together to decide which acts they will crown as cool, and make money from for the rest of the year.

For 2008, collective blessings have been bestowed on the female singer-songwriter. Gone are the days when the Brit for Best British Female went to Des'ree, just because.

A new generation is squaring up, led by two would-be Winehouses who both go by first names - Duffy in the red corner and Adele in the blue.

Of course, the fight-promoters are the press - neither girl sounds like she is cruising for a bruising. But as the real Amy doesn't look to be making music any time soon, we need someone to write about.

High above the imaginary ring, meanwhile, is Laura Marling - a girl so waif-like that she risks floating away, but far more interesting a proposition. Why?

For a start, no one has come up with an easy point of comparison for Marling, despite her having been on the scene for a few years already.

A recent school-leaver, Marling is also a graduate of the West London indie scene that centres around Way Out West and Chiswick's Blue Flowers - the night which spawned Jamie T and Kate Nash. But Marling is not part of the LDN thing.

As she told music website Drowned in Sound: "I'm not from London, I'm from Reading. And I've got a Berkshire accent. Kate Nash has ruined "fit" for everyone.

"What quality good girls are out there? I mean I like them, but I think we're different. They're indie pop. I don't fit in that scene. It's weird that females and males are thought about differently."

She may look like a china doll in child's sneakers, but Marling's voice betrays a strength beyond her 18 years.

Spotted by Jamie T at her second ever gig, she was invited to support him on tour and also guested on the Rakes' album 10 New Messages.

If Jamie is first generation Blue Flowers, then Marling is part of its second, folk-flavoured wave, along with acts like Florence and the Machine and her own fella's outfit, Noah and the Whale.

This week, she kicks off her Songbox tour at another West London institution, Banquet Records in Kingston. The Songbox is just that: a package deal that includes her debut album, Alas I Cannot Swim, a set of album mementos (waterwings?) and an exclusive concert ticket redeemable by text.

Of course, she might not make a shilling from any of this - but that's okay with me, I don't work on commission.

Laura Marling Instore, Banquet Records, 52 Eden Street, Kingston, Tues, Jan 29, free, 0208 549 5871, banquetrecords.com. The single Ghosts is out on Feb 4.