Tim's House

Kate Walsh

Verve, 2007

http://www.katewalsh.co.uk

REVIEW BY: Jason Warburg

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 06/02/2008

Kate Walsh opens her mouth to sing and it takes about ten seconds to feel like you know her. Not just her, but her dreams and vulnerabilities and frustrations and joys and quirks.

Ten seconds. Now that’s an expressive voice.

The track that won 24-year-old Briton Walsh immediate notice (“Your Song”) leads off this album, and it’s no wonder the folks at Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Private Practice snatched it up to use in an episode – Walsh and her acoustic guitar spin a tale of yearning and heartache so poignant and engrossing you pretty much make up the visuals in your head whether the TV’s on or not. (I’m sure it didn’t hurt that Walsh shares her name with the show’s lead actress, but that’s karma for you.)my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

Walsh’s songs are primarily acoustic and introspective, but all the same manage to inhabit gentle grooves that keep your head nodding along. A mention of Joni Mitchell is somewhat inevitable once you get into this territory, but it’s more than a facile comparison; Walsh’s songs are richly imagined and genuinely heartfelt enough to make her worthy of being mentioned in such company.

The danger with this sort of sensitive singer-songwriter approach is always that it will turn out too precious or too self-involved or fall into cliché. The fact that Walsh manages to pull off an “I was a misunderstood high school student” song and make it sound fresh and compelling (“Talk Of The Town”) puts that fear to bed early on. This is an original voice, full of soft-spoken confidence, a true craftswoman who manages to make baring her soul feel spontaneous and worthwhile.

Walsh is no slouch as a guitar player, either, and she and producer/mixer/multi-instrumentalist Tim Bidwell trade chords and grooves beautifully on cuts like the gentle, pointed, wise “Is This It?” As Walsh’s guitar joins the strings that open “Betty” I hear echoes of the James Taylor classic “Fire And Rain,” but the song develops into something entirely fresh and different. The deceptively simple “Bury My Head” features chords that feel like hot chocolate going down on a cool spring morning, warming you from the inside.

Not everything here is serious; “French Song,” for one, is a lighthearted trifle. But more typical are the earnest plea for understanding of “Tonight” and the rather jazzy melody and detailed lyric of the closing “Fireworks.” It’s obvious Walsh and Bidwell lavished care on these songs -- recorded in Bidwell’s home, thereby lending the album its name.

I could rattle on further, but you get the point. This is gorgeous material, thoughtful lyrics over subtle, steady grooves, sung with such understated yet genuine passion that it’s almost shocking hearing it come out of your speakers. Tim’s House is a superb achievement, an album that illustrates the power of honesty and simplicity.

Rating: A-

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© 2008 Jason Warburg and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Verve, and is used for informational purposes only.