| Alas I Cannot Swim | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 4 February 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2007 | |||
| Genre | Folk-pop [1] | |||
| Length | 38:22 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | Charlie Fink | |||
| Laura Marling chronology | ||||
| ||||
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. [2]
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, three days after her 18th birthday, then conventionally released a week later. [3]
Marling had released several 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."
The album was recorded in Eastcote Studios, a small independent studio in the west of London regarded as "honest and organic" by Marling. [5]
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. [6]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [7] |
| Drowned in Sound | [8] |
| The Guardian | [9] |
| The Independent | [10] |
| NME | [ citation needed ] |
| Pitchfork Media | (6.8/10) [11] |
| Q | (2008)[ citation needed ] |
| The Times | [12] |
| Uncut | [1] |
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." [9] 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", [8] 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". [7]
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 . [5] [14] [15]
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". [16]
Alas, I Cannot Swim entered the UK Albums Chart at number 45. [17] It was certified gold in the United Kingdom, selling over 100,000 copies. [18]
All songs written and composed by Laura Marling.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) [20] | 98 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [21] | 45 |
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.
