Kate Walsh
Tim's House
Verve Forecast (2008)
Kate Walsh's voice is as fragile as it is sweet, a combination that makes the 10 songs on "Tim's House" sound more like lullabies than like folk songs. That she sings acoustic, forlorn love songs may not make her stand out from other female singer-songwriters, but Walsh's charm lies in the simplicity of her arrangements and the purity of her voice. Lyrics that could sound hackneyed and tired ("I don't care, I don't care if you love me") instead capture the purity of young love with her innocent coo.
Walsh's lilting vocals make "Tim's House" a pleasant listen, but after a while, the songs tend to blend. So Walsh was wise to open things with her strongest track, "Your Song." It's a lingering look at the simplicity of a crush ("I'm stuck on a boy who fills me with joy"), and her breathy, unhurried voice transports us to a time when relationships really were that easy.
-- Catherine P. Lewis
.: Originally published: The Washington Post: 23 May 2008, Page WE12
.: Tim's House on Amazon.com.
