Song Of The Week: Kate Walsh - June Last Year

2 months ago 03rd Sep 15:00

Calling Kate Walsh a singer songwriter is like saying Van Gogh was a cartoonist.

Kate is, er, different. A 26-year-old from a sailing town in Essex who’s been likened to Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush and Jane Austen, she’s ferociously independent…in every sense.

She adores Debussy, studies cello, listens to Classic FM, bemoans the demise of vinyl and CDs, is entertainingly scathing about the conventional music industry and has established her own cottage industry to do it her way…. And I bloody love her!

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, and her new single, Just Last Year (which was my 21st birthday - for the record) is just as delicious as candy floss on a summers day.

Most of her songs are about, men. Specifically men who’ve messed with her emotions - so I’m totally with her on that one, as I’m pretty convinced there’s not much left in my heart thanks to the men I keep meeting… although at 22 now, I think it needs to keep fighting for a good few more years yet!

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, but she’s actually 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.

FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison