A year or so after Lily Allen bounced her way to no.1 with Smile, there is an explosion of very young British female singers creating quirky pop music. Kate Nash has found herself at no.2 in the charts with lovely Foundations (and she must release Birds, which I posted here a few months ago, as her next single), but it's yet to be seen if any of the others will provide a challenge to Miss Allen. While she's not as Lily-esque as Kate or Remi Nicole or Rosie Oddie, Laura Marling is possibly my favourite of the girls in this group as she brings a very endearing youthful shyness to her music. I saw her supporting Rufus Wainwright a few weeks ago and she sounded great but she definitely needs to work on her stage presence. Still, it's the music that counts and with experience her confidence will surely grow - Laura may be the one of these girls who'll last beyond the trend.