Kate Walsh @ Barfly

Having outsold Take That through iTunes, Kate Walsh is a charming example of how lo-tech music can take advantage of the hi-tech world. Armed with only an acoustic guitar and a clear soprano, her set at the Barfly emerges an object lesson in how gentility and attention to detail can be far more intense than bluster and noise. Walsh's guitar style - a soft, precise plucking rather than casual strumming - creates a shimmering bed for her dreamy lyrics and clear voice. The melody lies in her vocals, which are studied, slight and passionate: her songs are persuasive rather than demanding, although she rapidly hushes the entire room. Her stories are otherworldly and oblique: Fireworks appears to be simply about watching a display from her window, yet hints at a secret melancholy, while Tonight injects an entire relationship's worth of sensuality into a one-night stand. In their stripped down form, her songs are potent and passionate distillations of lost moments. Catch her before success brings orchestration. [Gareth K Vile]