 |
Four years ago, 26 year old Kate Walsh recorded her beautiful debut album in her producer's bedroom for £500. It became an iTunes sensation, knocking Take That from the No1 spot. Not bad for an album of delicately fragile and, some would say, confessional songs. The song Talk of the Town became Single of the Week in March 2007. Her career took a step up from that time and she is regularly now featured in the music press and radio. Earlier this year, she supported Mark Knopfler on his six-night run at the Royal Albert Hall. Calling 26-year-old Kate a singer songwriter is like saying Van Gogh was a cartoonist. Kate is, er, different. She adores Debussy, studies cello, listens constantly to Classic FM (and little else) and bemoans the demise of vinyl and CDs. She's entertainingly scathing about the conventional music industry (”it’s fickle, selfish, impersonal and backstabbing”) – and has established her own cottage industry to do it her way. And when she sits down to write a song you’d better lock up your hearts for you instantly become Kate’s close personal confidante as she bares her soul with shocking candour. Kate's latest album, The Real Thing is officially released in November to coincide with her UK tour and reflects her wish to record an album in the simplest and truest form possible. All songs for the album have been recorded live in the old fashioned sense of the word – no overdubs, no backing vocals… just simple and honest one-take performances which are straight from her heart. "I want capture the moment the song is played on stage and transfer it to an album. This is the real me, the real thing...". Listening to the very real pain and fragility of her music you imagine the author must be a quivering wreck permanently teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Far from it – chattering away ten to the dozen like she’s known you all her life, Kate Walsh is warm, funny and likeably self-deprecating, fully recognising the self-indulgent nature of the confessional songwriter’s art. And art this truly is. Read about Kate in the Sunday Times Culture magazine 8 November 2009 |
