Marika Hackman, Union Chapel

A former Burberry model and school friend of It-girl Cara Delevingne, Marika Hackman turned her back on a catwalk career in favour of creating exquisite modern folk music.
This autumn, artist is touring the UK in support of her first full-length album We Slept At Last.
She may have been picked up and promoted by pied-piper of the modern folk scene, Johnny Flynn, but where Flynn romps in the barn, Hackman’s music is inkier and sparser.
She reaches for minor keys and chilling lyrics. In Cannibal, she asks: "Have you seen my nose?/ I cut it off last night/ Well let's just hope it grows,/ I'd hate to look a fright./ As blood run down my chin,/ I love that iron taste". She hints at an eating disorder: (“Everybody knows, gluttony's a sin/ And I feel sick and gross… I’m hungry for a fix” ): a suggestion made frank in the video.
Marika plays every instrument on her releases herself, from guitar to sitar). Her lyrics and composition -as well as a line in brooding, theatrical music videos- have her marked down as more than another folk-pop flash-in-the-pan.