“Paper Thin” performed live on ukulele, vocals, loop pedal and violin at Ort Cafe, Birmingham, 24th March 2015.

This song appears on my 2016 album “Direction Of Travel” released under the name She Makes War. The album version features the beautiful vocals of Tanya Donelly – watch the video here.

Violin by Simon Goff – check out his beautiful new album with Katie Melua!

Recorded by Dan Hayward, mixed and mastered by Jay Chakravorty. Video by Blacklight Productions.

Browse my entire back catalogue – She Makes War and Penfriend – here.

Join my mailing list for free songs and stories, subscribe here for future videos and get involved from the start of Penfriend album #2 by joining The Correspondent’s Club.

Have a lovely day! xo

Back to 2008 again for episode 2 of my ancient vlog, featuring:

– my great big pre-gig nerves
– a guitar amp transported to my gig in a plastic bag on a bus (glamorous *and* professional)
– snippets of “Getting Nowhere” and “ghostsandshadows” live
– and my first EVER radio interview (conducted during my office job lunch break!!) where I talk about being an extra in “Extras” (singing with David Bowie!)

I started vlogging in 2008 – way before Casey Neistat! – but made two big mistakes:

1) calling it a vblog instead of a vlog, because I was being nitpicky about how if it was a “video blog” it should be a vblog not a vlog. Um, ok Past Laura, cool pedantry – but imagine if you’d tagged it with the word EVERYONE ELSE WAS USING…perhaps people might have watched!

2) not being consistent. I did make a decent amount of episodes, but then stopped because I was busy with other things. If I hadn’t stopped, who knows what it would have developed into. I’m especially annoyed with myself for listening to my ex-boyfriend who asked me “is this a music project or are you making a reality TV show?” I’m glad I used that as a catalyst for making my debut album, but it’s not all or nothing (and it was never a reality TV show).

ANYWAY, I’m delighted to be doing the YouTube thing now, and it’s fun to go back and appreciate some of the good things I made. It’s way too easy to write off our past endeavours as rubbish because we are better at doing those things now (and might still, often, wonder if we’re any good). I’m glad I saved these snippets and I hope you enjoy these trips down memory lane with me.

Join my mailing list for free songs and stories, subscribe here for future videos and get involved from the start of Penfriend album #2 by joining The Correspondent’s Club.

My debut album “Disarm” and my second album “Little Battles” are available on limited edition coloured vinyl – for the first time EVER – plus CD/download from my shop.

Browse my entire back catalogue – She Makes War and Penfriend – here.

Have a lovely day! xo

“Disarm” and my second album “Little Battles” are available on limited edition coloured vinyl – for the first time EVER – plus CD/download from my shop.

Browse my entire back catalogue – She Makes War and Penfriend – here.

This is a serious blast from the past, and I don’t even remember filming it, but I’m glad I did!

In 2008 I lived alone in a studio flat in Peckham (then I got my amazing dog Mister Benji and never lived alone again!), and was working hard to pull together songs for my debut album.

I recorded “Disarm” in winter 2009, so this is a very early performance of “A-Hole”, which is still one of my favourite songs from that album.

“Disarm” was released under the name She Makes War in September 2010. I made four and a bit albums under that name, putting music out from 2009-2019 before launching Penfriend in 2020.

Join my mailing list for free songs and stories, subscribe here for future videos and get involved from the start of Penfriend album #2 by joining The Correspondent’s Club.

Have a lovely day! xo