Heavenly Sounds may only be a relatively new live music company to take advantage of the nation’s churches, but Laura Marling has been playing in holy houses and cathedrals across Europe for years.
Given this tour’s stripped back approach – the 23 year old opted only for her very own guitar with her cellist in tow for a few numbers – Marling’s Australian fans would see the musician not only in a new environment, but sonically in a far different context to her full band Laneway Festival sideshows at the beginning of 2012.
When a calibre wordsmith like Laura Marling expresses adoration for her compatriot and support act, Marika Hackman, by calling her “one of the best songwriters she’s heard in long time” you know you’ve witnessed something worth remembering.
Not that Marling’s endorsement was required. As soon as Hackman started playing her acoustic guitar with a tender Alas, I Cannot Swim-like voice the deathly silence of the audience hadn’t just occurred because they were in an intimate church setting.
Hackman’s similarities to her headliner extend to her awkward interplay, mournful facial expressions and dark lyricism, but end when the musician switches to electric guitar. On such an instrument the young songstress sounds ominous and undoubtedly far more unique than on the acoustic guitar.
As latecomers purged the audience’s silence by filling the balcony, those underneath turned with looks of disgust. A rare sight, given that in any other normal venue a support act is expected to be talked over.
While the respectfulness of the crowd was certainly an oddity compared to what you experience at traditional gigs when Marling and her cellist entered the stage half an hour late the audience showed signs of life with enthusiastic cheers.
Blaming her late start on a broken guitar string Marling began with the opening suite of tracks that characterises her fourth LP, Once I Was An Eagle.
From ‘Take The Night Off’ through to ‘Breathe’ the singer sounded rushed in comparison to her recording. It was hard to revel in the beauty and her wordplay, but the pace was just a minor grievance. Her vocal tones though, which sounded far deeper and Dylan-like than on the record, was perhaps slightly more unsettling.
Yet as the cellist left the stage and Marling played the brooding ‘Master Hunter’, which wears its Dylan swagger proudly, the singer sounded far more in tune with the expectations set by the recordings.
Not that an artist’s likeness to their album should define a live show, some of the best gigs transcend the acts’ albums, but there was no denying Marling’s change in singing style when she drew upon her back catalogue.
Distancing herself from her debut by playing no cuts from Alas, I Cannot Swim is unsurprising given her evolution, but her decision to play three tracks from I Speak Because I Can and yet only ‘Sophia’ from 2011’s A Creature I Don’t Know is a little bemusing.
Her vocal renditions of older tracks sounded far less pure than when she performed at The Forum last year. Not that Marling has lost her beautiful voice whatsoever. She provided more than enough evidence with hints throughout, although most notably with a stunning take on Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Kathy’s Song’.
While her change in vocal style is seemingly indicative of a new direction, the singer’s small talk about facts, tuning in between songs and her no encore decision was as endearing as it was last time around.
Ultimately it was still a professional and consistent performance with the likes of ‘Pray For Me’, ‘Rambling Man’ and ‘What He Wrote’ evidencing the reverence and eloquence of the musician
But having witnessed the power of Marling with a full band in an hour and half in 2012, this hour-long performance was by no means a true testimony to the best this musician can achieve in a live setting.
Setlist:
Take The Night Off
I Was An Eagle
You Know
Breathe
Master Hunter
Untitled New Song
Sophia
Pray For Me
I Speak Because I Can
Rambling Man
What He Wrote
Kathy’s Song (Simon And Garfunkel cover)
Saved These Words
