The vanguard of youth strum on

Full disclosure - I don't know Marling at all but Turner is a good friend.

These two are not especially similar in their songwriting style but what they have both done in parallel, which almost no other British act has done over the past few years, is take real, thoughtful, complex acoustic-based songwriting into the heart of the mainstream.

Initially birthed in the same west London Thamesbeat indie scene that gave us Jamie T and Mystery Jets, phenomenally acclaimed young songwriter Marling ended up in a power triumvirate of major-signed pop-folk crossover acts with Noah & The Whale and Mumford & Sons.

While these other two are both decent enough groups with some good songs, without doubt Marling is world-class. Despite being barely out of her teens, her weary, perceptive near-visionary lyrics over almost impossibly natural and instinctive sounding folk and acoustic pop forms are without peer here right now.

For me she's the finest woman songwriter this country has produced since Polly Harvey - and it's not unreasonable to reference gender since songwriting, like all art that externalises the internal, is by its very nature rooted in gender.

By contrast Turner came out of the punk-metal scene where he still has a thriving core fanbase, although his songwriting now sits somewhere between clever Anglicised alt-country and driving mainstream radio rock.

So from Converge, Black Flag and Fugazi, he is now mainlining our English folk tradition and sharing that knowledge across a younger, more enthused audience than perhaps any other artist. At last year's triumphant Shepherds Bush Empire headline - which you can get on DVD - he silenced the crowd with an a capella run through trad standard Barbara Allen, yet at the same time he's the kind of artist who can be booked to open for Green Day at Wembley Stadium next month.

But you know there are a lot of singers who write their own stuff, some brilliantly. What specifically have Marling and Turner done that the others haven't?

The answer is more to do with growth of a following and the crossing over to a wider perception than the pure content itself. They have taken their material onto daytime Radio 1, into big sold-out live venues and, in Marling's case, into the heart of the style mag mainstream, building ferociously loyal followings which will last beyond any trend or hype. This without ever compromising the core art and direction of their song.

Both artists' prime focus is not on consciously structuring material for a wider market or the breakthrough hit - they are writing for themselves, their peers and, if with an audience in mind, a core base of true music lovers. For me, this is what makes their work so important in an unsettled time.

After her debut, Marling could have easily been taken in a pop crossover direction - the temptation must have been huge. In fact, I expected it and was dreading a second record. But when it arrived, I Speak Because I Can dived into such rich, dark and folkier complexity, it is a sheer relief as well as a joy to listen to. Marling is either in decent control of her output or being very well managed.

Turner mirrors this level of commitment and control, although more in the live arena where he is working harder than any other British act, still stretching possibilities, taking his solo show to New Zealand, Hong Kong and mainland China, even as he can sell out ever larger British and European venues.

Dragging in their wake come a trail of young singers, some of whom are themselves of real quality, inspired to pick up an acoustic guitar or sit down at the piano by the clarity of their words.

From 2008 onwards almost every local support act booked to open for me was a Turner-inspired strummer. From 2009 and into 2010 it was either those, or semi-acoustic folk pop bands inspired by Marling and Mumford & Sons.

I think this sphere of influence is crucial, especially as the new dominant cultural clique comes to the throne.

Marling and Turner spearhead a youthful counter-action against the sterile ideas and fear-born nothings of the reality TV hegemony and they do so without being misshapen.