Alas, I Cannot Swim

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Alas I Cannot Swim
Alas, I Cannot Swim by Laura Marling.jpg
Studio album by
Laura Marling
Released4 February 2008 (Download)
11 February 2008 (Street)
Recorded2007
Genre Folk, alternative rock
Length38:22
Label Virgin
Producer Charlie Fink
Laura Marling chronology
Alas I Cannot Swim
(2008)		 I Speak Because I Can
(2010)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Drowned in Sound Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
The Independent Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [4]
Pitchfork Media (6.8/10) [5]
The Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg (2008)
NME Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg

Alas, I Cannot Swim is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Laura Marling. The album was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize. [8]

Contents

Background

The album was produced by the lead vocalist of her previous band, Noah and the Whale, Charlie Fink, and was initially released on 4 February 2008, conventionally released a week later. [9]

Marling had released a number of smaller singles and EPs before releasing her debut album. She told Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph : "I did my first EP just to get rid of songs I didn't like. They were just so awful. I don't think I really found out what I was doing until about six months after I signed a deal."

Recording

The album was recorded in Eastcote Studios, a small independent studio in the west of London regarded as "honest and organic" by Marling. [10]

Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg
"Ghosts"
The use of understated percussion is evident on "Ghosts", as well as introducing string arrangements that Marling "had absolutely nothing to do with". [11]
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Promotion and release

The album was first released on 4 February 2008 in a "songbox" format, which comprised the CD album, a redeemable code for free concert tickets, and a "memento" for every song on the album. [12]

Reception

Critical

Media response to Alas, I Cannot Swim was favourable; aggregating website Metacritic reports a normalised rating of 73% based on 7 critical reviews. [13] The Guardian 's Caroline Sullivan called the album "unnervingly grown-up" and wrote: "Simplicity is the key: playing acoustic guitar and singing in a gentle verge-of-womanhood voice, she keeps things homespun and rootsy." [14] Kev Kharas of Drowned in Sound noted "Marling's skill at making one word bleed with more meaning than half a dozen or so vainglorious chorus lines", [15] while Allmusic's Stewart Mason commented on the "old-school '70s singer/songwriter vibe" of the album, focusing in particular on her "alluringly husky voice and graceful acoustic guitar". [16]

Due to the timing of the album coinciding with Feist's commercially successful third studio album The Reminder , Mason said that "there's every chance that [she] will get lost in the shuffle as the unexpected commercial success [...] leads major labels to unleash hordes of similarly talented female singer/songwriters". Comparisons between Marling and Canadian songwriter Joni Mitchell were cited by many, including Andrew Murfett of The Age , Matt Connors of The Courier-Mail and Cameron Adams of The Herald Sun . [10] [17] [18]

In addition, "Ghosts" appeared in Australian radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2008 at #43, and "Crawled Out of the Sea" was used in the final episode of the third series of Skins . In October 2011, NME placed "My Manic and I" at number 146 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". [19]

Commercial

Alas, I Cannot Swim entered the UK Albums Chart at number 45. [20] It was certified gold in the United Kingdom, selling over 100,000 copies. [21]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Laura Marling.

No.TitleLength
1."Ghosts"3:01
2."Old Stone"2:59
3."Tap at My Window"2:48
4."Failure"3:21
5."You're No God"2:28
6."Cross Your Fingers"2:24
7."(Interlude) Crawled Out of the Sea"1:16
8."My Manic and I"3:56
9."Night Terror"3:09
10."The Captain and the Hourglass"3:10
11."Shine"2:39
12."Your Only Doll (Dora)"7:19

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Alas, I Cannot Swim
Chart (2008)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [23] 98
UK Albums (OCC) [24] 45

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References

  1. ↑ Stewart Mason (11 February 2008). "Alas I Cannot Swim – Laura Marling | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "Album Review: Laura Marling – Alas I Cannot Swim / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. 11 February 2008. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  3. ↑ Caroline Sullivan (8 February 2008). "CD: Laura Marling, Alas I Cannot Swim | Music | The Guardian". Music.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper". The Independent . Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Alas, I Cannot Swim | Pitchfork". Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  6. ↑ "The Times & The Sunday Times : Music review". Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. 11 April 1917. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Laura Marling – Alas I Cannot Swim – Review – Uncut.co.uk". Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "Nationwide Mercury Prize nominations announced". Bearded magazine. 22 July 2008. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008.
  9. ↑ Dan Cairns (30 March 2008). "Laura Marling, 2008's true musical talent". The Sunday Times . Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  10. 1 2 Andrew Murfett (14 March 2008). "Alas, I Cannot Swim – Music". The Age .
  11. ↑ "Smells like teen spirit". Bristol Evening Post . 28 February 2008.
  12. ↑ "Laura Marling to release album in 'song box' format". nme.com. NME. 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011. The package will contain the CD album, entry to a gig in the form of a redeemable code, plus 'momentos' relating to each song on the album.
  13. ↑ "Critic Reviews for Alas, I Cannot Swim at Metacritic". metacritic.com. 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  14. ↑ Sullivan, Caroline (8 February 2008). "CD: Laura Marling, Alas I Cannot Swim". The Guardian . London: GMG. ISSN   0261-3077. OCLC   60623878 . Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  15. ↑ Kharas, Kev (2011). "Laura Marling – Alas I Cannot Swim". drownedinsound.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  16. ↑ Mason, Stewart (2011). "Alas I Cannot Swim – Laura Marling". allmusic.com. Allmusic . Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  17. ↑ Matt Connors (19 June 2008). "Dig the new breed". The Courier-Mail .
  18. ↑ Cameron Adams (13 March 2008). "Alas I Cannot Swim". The Herald Sun .
  19. ↑ Schiller, Rebecca (6 October 2011). "150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years". NME . Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  20. ↑ "Wild things run fast". The Statesman . 27 December 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  21. ↑ "Edinburgh has room for Laura". Business7. 26 November 2010.
  22. ↑ "Alas I Cannot Swim – Laura Marling | Credits". AllMusic . 11 February 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  23. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 176.
  24. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
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