The last few years have been good to the British Alternative-Indie-Folk scene, seeing a huge resurgence in said music thanks to the likes of Mumford & Sons, Noah And The Whale, Johnny Flynn, and of course Laura Marling.  If you’re unfamiliar with Marling’s work then a little background story might go like this.  She’s a female, she sings and plays the guitar and all that good jazz, she was in the original lineup of Noah & The Whale and although being credited with some vocals on their debut album “Peaceful The World Lays Me Down”, she quit the band before it was released in 2008.

After that she ventured out into the woods by herself and dropped her debut solo album “Alas I Cannot Swim” in the same year to mixed reviews, BUT, just last year she released her second album “I Speak Because I Can” which garnered almost universal praise by anyone who reviewed it, and now a year later she’s already penned and recorded album number three “A Creature I Don’t Know” due out on September 12th. From that album she just premiered the first single from it called “Sophia” on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio One show and you can hear a radio rip of the blissfully rousing tune, showcasing the strengths of her voice as it peaks and slumbers.

Connect with Laura Marling – Facebook / Twitter / Last.fm / Website

Laura Marling – Sophia by ListenBeforeYouBuy

Mumford & Sons have been a round for a couple of years now, playing gigs in and around London along with buddies of the same scene like Johnny Flynn and Noah And The Whale, but they’ve only just (October 2009) released their debut album “Sigh No More”.  Polarising critics (some saying their music is awful, some (most) saying it’s excellent) they’ve made an album that’s passionate and catchy, melodious and stomping, but most of all enjoyable.

I think I’m on an Indie-Folk kick lately as most of the bands I’m featuring seem to be in that kind of genre, but what the hell, the music’s awesome and that’s all that matters.

Below you can hear “White Blank Page” that they did for WOXY, “After The Storm“, single “The Cave”, as well as a top notch cover of “Cousins” by Vampire Weekend.  Also are performances of “Timshel”, beautifully shot for Le-Hiboo and their official video for “Winter Winds”.