Alas, I Cannot Swim

The fact that bracing Brit-folk singer/songwriter Laura Marling was just 17 when she recorded the Mercury Prize-nominated Alas, I Cannot Swim has become every much the bit of biographical shorthand as mentioning Lily Allen's famous dad or Robyn's late-90s U.S. stardom. It may seem at first unfair given how many pubescent rockers come down the pike, but artists who mine a folkier, more personal vein, like Marling or Conor Oberst or Patrick Wolf, do tend to open themselves up to greater scrutiny-- yet are also more readily rewarded with touts of prodigal genius. Such clearly heard, lyric-driven music almost can't help but assume an aim towards profundity regardless of its actual goals. When such striving stumbles, we call it "precociousness" and assume the neophyte will continue to hone his or her introspective powers with each passing year. But is this always a good thing, to encourage a young artist of deep feeling to continue burrowing more deeply?

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