CityLife

FORGET X Factor, if you want to see young British talent, take a long look at Laura Marling.<br /> <br /> She's got the look - a dainty version of Agyness Deyn. She's got the voice, a cross between Beth Orton and Joni Mitchell.<br /> <br /> She's part of an eruption of sparkling artists emerging from the London boroughs.<br /> <br /> She's got the critical approval thanks to a Mercury Prize nomination for her debut Alas, I Cannot Swim. And she's certainly got the songs mixing infectious pop and tender folk.<br /> <br /> But to round it all off, she's only 18 with the songwriting maturity of a 35-year-old, writing convincingly about breakdowns and emotions.<br /> <br /> Marling opens tonight’s sell-out date with the simple but catchy Ghosts before spending her set mixing equal parts of optimism and darkness: the upbeat and the pensive.<br /> <br /> Staggering maturity<br /> <br /> You're No God and Cross Your Fingers are pop, Crawled Out of the Sea and Old Stone convey the staggering maturity of Marling's songwriting, and Night Terror and My Manic and I evoke a bleak landscape held together with a slow heartbeat.<br /> <br /> Her melodies are complex and faultlessly performed, and it's easy to get carried away with her vocal and forget that she's also got some evocative lyrics in her armoury which make the songs that much more impressive.<br /> <br /> When she's backed by the band she's emphatic. When she's on her own she's heavenly.<br /> <br /> While the likes of Adele and Kate Nash have been seemingly thrust into the limelight with their brand of mouthy pop, Marling has managed to saunter subtly into the pop consciousness.<br /> <br /> Watching Laura Marling is like witnessing the start of something special.<br /> <br /> Do you agree? Have your say.<br />