A captivating presence both on stage and record, prolific English singer-songwriter Laura Marling will arrive in Australia early next year for three intimate solo shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Deliberately taking in venues conducive to the rich details embedded carefully within her music, the tour sees Marling in the country for the first time since the release of LUMP, her critically acclaimed and highly ambitious collaboration with Mike Lindsay of band Tunng.
LAURA MARLING
AUSTRALIA 2020
THU 05 MAR 2020 | STUDIO BAR, OPERA HOUSE SYDNEY
SAT 07 MAR 2020 | STUDIO BAR, OPERA HOUSE SYDNEY [sold out]
TUE 10 MAR 2020 | THE OUTPOST BRISBANE [sold out]
THU 12 MAR 2020 | MEAT MARKET MELBOURNE [sold out]
As she takes to the stage alone, these rare dates will also give audiences the chance to hear selections from Marling’s enviable back catalogue which includes the debut record Alas, I Cannot Swim, the tenacious landmark Once I Was An Eagle and the wiry atmospheres of 2015’s brilliant Short Movie. Most recently, 2017’s Semper Femina heralded some of the best reviews of an already glittering career and culminated in a deserved first Grammy nomination.
Outside of her home in the UK, where she has been nominated for Best Female Solo Artist at the Brit Awards no less than five times (winning it in 2011) and where her albums are regularly nominated for their prestigious Mercury Music Prize, Australia has always had something of an affinity with Laura Marling.
We were first fascinated back in 2008 when the building whisper of the then 18-year-old’s single ‘Ghosts’ caught our ear. Released amid a movement which included Marling’s contemporaries and collaborators Mumford and Sons and Noah and the Whale, the single and subsequent debut album refused to get swept up in the approaching acoustic avalanche which would envelop much of the early 00’s. In fact, it has been a penchant for subtle 180’s and a genuine desire to cater to gloriously singular internal muses that has defined Laura Marling’s output over the past decade or so, enrapturing Australians in the process.
Every single one of her albums has charted in this part of the world, peaking with the Top 10 performance of sophomore stunner I Speak Because I Can and making Marling a regular visitor to these shores. These upcoming appearances may very well rank among her most memorable Australian shows, as the intimate surrounds of carefully chosen venues will allow admirers the opportunity to see up close one of the finest British songwriters of a generation.