Walking onto a stage and knowing that within the audience almost 80% of them have brought a copy of your album must be a pretty comforting thought; even more so when you consider that we are slap bang in the middle of the age of the download.

The privilege was all Laura Marling’s on Thursday as she played the stately Union Chapel on her Song Box tour. This clever little gem of an idea gave fans a ticket to a gig, plus her album Alas I Cannot Swim, along with various nick-nacks relating to the songs on the album all tied up in a pretty little bow.

The originality of the concept was slightly dented with the atmosphere created by those who may not usually attend such events, whilst respectful during songs, there wasn’t that buzz of ‘What, Ifs' and Maybe’s’ which would usually surround.

Not that Marling minded as she was almost in a trance during her set, eyes focused on a point that no-one else could see and belting out songs in a voice which is breathtaking on record and takes on almost ethereal qualities in a live setting.

Dashing through almost the entire of Alas I Cannot Swim (though not in order), she was accompanied by a string quartet as well as members of Noah and the Whale and Mumford and Son to create the multi faceted sound that appears on record.

At first this appears to be a bit ‘try too hard’ with Marling attempting to recreate her debut album, but then all becomes clear as it so often does during the songs themselves - Marling is out only to please herself and to create a noise which she is ultimately proud of.

The lack of interaction with the crowd may have struck some as nerves, giving the impression of Marling being aloof, it was none of these things; Marling simply gets so involved with her music that everything else is secondary. My Manic and I showcased this perfectly as she lost herself in the tale of depression and woe before breaking into Night Terror - her voice as delicate as the building around her.

The lack of old hits such as New Romantic and London Town was an expected disappointment but when songs as You’re No God are played to such a high standard then it is hard to complain.

Still though something rang untrue. Yes, the sound engineers got it right, yes the set-list and performance were as near to perfect as they were going to get, but where it truly matters; that edge of your seat, ‘What’s going to come next?’ feeling wasn’t there, meaning that by the end it all began to feel predictable.

Then just as you feel all hope is gone, an encore of a Kimya Dawson cover comes out of nowhere. As both Marling and Dawson have done throughout their musical lives, it re-ignites your interest in music and makes you feel that it is worth it after all.