Since her emergence on the London folk scene at the tender age of 16 with band Noah and the Whale, Laura Marling has made musical waves with her charming voice and her wise, wistful tunes. Over the past four years since, the talented songstress has released two critically acclaimed solo albums (Alas I Cannot Swim, and I Speak Because I Can) and travelled from one continent to the next, sharing her melodic magnetism and fast becoming a global folk phenomenon. The past few weeks have seen her back down-under to play the renowned Splendour in the Grass festival and to headline shows across the country.

Keeping herself in astounding company, Marling invited fellow London folk scene alum and personal friend, Johnny Flynn, as well as Sydney-based lads Boy & Bear, to accompany her for her Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth shows.

Flynn, who you may recognise from the video clip for Lisa Mitchell’s “Coin Laundry”, took to the intimately set stage first with nothing but a guitar and a bottle of beer. After a stirring start with one of his more well-known tracks, “Brown Trout Blues”, Flynn apologised for the absence of his band The Sussex Wit, explaining that “it’s quite expensive to visit this island of yours”.

The dashing singer-songwriter then continued through his brief set (playing A Larum favourites “The Box”, “The Wrote and The Writ” and “Tickle Me Pink”, along with songs from his new album, Been Listening), entrancing the crowd with his ageless, flawless voice. To the great pleasure of the audience, Marling joined him on stage to close the set with a stunning duet.

Five-piece Boy & Bearwere next to grace the Capitol spotlight, on the whole living up to their growing first-rate reputation. Lead-singer Dave Hosking told the crowd of the group’s pleasure to be in Perth for just their second time and apologised for any “squeakiness”, explaining that half the band were as “sick as dogs”. From their ever-enthralling, energetic and inspired set, however, the boys could have passed for being as healthy as horses (see what I did there, eh?).

The lads played all of the tracks off With Emperor Antarctica along with a couple of new songs, for the most part enveloping the audience with their big sound and certainly captivating the crowd with their cleverly constructed and honestly lovely harmonies. The new songs – which the group took six weeks off recently to write – showcased a nice progression in the band’s sound, aside from that one new track which Hosking described as “us going country”. I was, however, willing to forgive them that slip (which wasn’t that bad anyway) after the group played their rendition of Bon Iver’s “Flume”, which was spellbinding. The track “Mexican Mavis” polished off a solid set from the boys – a set which was so well received it comes as no surprise that Boy & Bear have just announced their own headline shows across the country for later in the year.

After the teaser of the duet Marling gave with Flynn, the crowd was absolutely ecstatic to see her take the stage once more (with her band in tow) to kick off her own set. It was incredible to see the breadth of Marling’s voice live – a voice which she employed with ease to tackle soft melodies, big ballads, and everything in between. The singer-songwriter’s band only emphasised this, accentuating her voice with ease and absolute perfection. It was a particular pleasure to watch band-member Pete Roe as he swiftly moved between instruments during the set.

Marling’s on-stage presence was wonderful, with what she described as “awkward” speech between tracks coming across as humorous, intelligent and informative banter. The young Brit was quick to stress this “awkward” feeling, opting to personally introduce each of her band members in a staggered fashion between songs, much to the bemusement of the crowd and the slight displeasure of those on stage.

After playing tracks such as “Ghosts” and “Hope in the Air” as well as two new tracks (which certainly left the crowd very eager for future Marling-related musical releases), Marling’s band left her on stage for a one-on-one with the audience.

While many might argue that Marling’s voice is her finest asset, the young songstress playfully disagrees, confessing that whistling may just be her “top talent”. The crowd laughed at this confession, but boy, can that girl whistle. After asking the room to whistle as a substitute for Tom Fiddle’s violin solo during “Night Terror” (as she “doesn’t travel with a violinist”), she out-whistled the entire room through both pursed lips and gritted teeth, leaving the audience awestruck.

Marling’s band later joined her back on stage to round up her set, helping her to finish out her performance just as she had begun it – with poise and charm. Reaching the conclusion of the show, Laura announced to the crowd that she had just two more songs left to play, explaining that “we don’t do encores, unless we become AC/DC”. As she launched herself into final tunes “Alas I Cannot Swim” and “I Speak Because I Can”, you could have heard a pin drop – at just 20-years-old, the command Marling holds over her audience is astounding and truly an astonishing testament to the talented musician that she beyond-proved herself to be on Sunday night.

With so much to say, and such a beautiful way of saying it, I’m convinced that we wouldn’t mind if the young Laura Marling continued to speak because she could… well, forever, really.