Laura Marling Performs 'Twilight'-Ready New Song in New York

Midway through British songstress Laura Marling's headlining gig Thursday night in Brooklyn, N.Y.'s Music Hall of Williamsburg, her backing band vacated the stage, leaving just her alone -- and free to tell stories. When introducing a new song -- she never gave the title, but often said the line "bed of my bones" -- she mentioned that she'd recently played it in Los Angeles. She asked the West Coast audience if it would be good for a film and relayed that 90 percent of the crowd agreed that it would be -- if used for ''Twilight.'

The Brooklyn crowd let out a few boos, to which Marling concurred. A few moments later, she told another story: this time, about cult folk artist Jackson C. Frank. "He was the first singer that made me want to be good at guitar," she explained. "And better than boys." Marling then whipped out a sparse cover of Frank's most well-known song, 'Blues Run the Game,' the lone cover in a set that mostly drew from her recent release, 'I Speak Because I Can.'

Marling's new work is lined with a more maturity than before and it's showing in concert, too. Just a few years ago, she seemed wrought with stage fright at times but now she stands before a crowd, comfortable, poised and elegant. Songs with her full band help, too; when she starts up in a Nick Drake fashion on 'Hope in the Air,' the feelings quickly dissipated as the song starts to wander on with rhythms. Other highlights included a nearly jazz-pop version of 'Ghosts' and the Dylan-inspired 'Goodbye England (Covered in Snow),' one of her best from the new crop.

And as much as Marling's work is dripping with sadness, oddly enough she's acquired that rare ability to get people to cheer wildly as she starts up pretty much any song. As she closed her set with 'My Manic and I,' a fan favorite from her debut 'Alas I Cannot Swim,' there were moments where people were singing along, nearly making her laugh as she tried to convey the song's dreadful, inner-demon qualities. She got through it, even whistling the complete melody at the end, a solid accomplishment that would impress even the most doubting 'Twilight' fan.

Laura Marling is currently on tour in the US through the end of May, where she'll wind things up at Sasquatch Festival in George, Wa. UK dates are peppered throughout the summer, including an appearance at Glastonbury on June 26.