Mara Carlyle is a London, UK singer-songwriter, who plays musical saw and the guitar. Her recording début was providing vocals for three tracks on Plaid's "Not For Threes" (Oct 1997, Warp), her own début album was "The Lovely" (Jun 2004, Accidental Records) and the latest is "Floreat" (Jul 2011, Ancient & Modern). She is the child of musicians and was raised in Shropshire, England. Lovely by name, lovely by nature? Well, yes and no. The music certainly sounds lovely, so lovely in fact that it'll make you swoon and laugh and cry all at once. The voice is undeniably lovely, but then those of you who've been paying attention will already know that, from Mara's work with Plaid and Matthew Herbert. But listen a little closer and a rather darker voice can be heard, telling tales of love and loss, death and courage and of nightmares.