Singer/songwriter Laura Marling was only 16 years old when she emerged on the British indie scene in 2007 thanks to a handful of infectious singles made available on her MySpace profile. Endowed with a husky voice, an acoustic guitar, and a gift for building quirky, hooky folk songs (characteristics that find her compared favorably to artists like Lily Allen, Regina Spektor, and Martha Wainwright), marling quickly made a name for herself throughout England thanks to a heavy touring schedule and a few high-profile gigs, not the least of which included an appearance at the 2006 City Showcase: Spotlight London and as the opening act for Jamie T Although she was still without a label one year later, her debut EP, My Manic And I EP, was slated for independent release in the late fall of 2007. This status didn't last for long, however, because in early 2008, signed to Virgin, marling issued Alas I Cannot Swim, which also came as part of a multimedia My shy pals' songbox - Shyrec Camp vol. 2 package. In 2010, marling released her sophomore album, I Speak Because I Can, which debuted at number three on the U.K. albums chart and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. marling's third studio album, A Creature I Don't Know, arrived on September 9, 2011. ~ Margaret Reges, Rovi