Alas I Cannot Swim

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. 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. 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." "The whole album is about being between 18 and 19; about love."