Sarah Walk is an undoubted upcoming talent; on her return to the UK, the rising star makes a small room feel more as though she was playing a stadium sized show. Her sound hits hard yet offers a distinct level of elegance and delicacy that few are able to balance effectively.

Being an up-comer from across the globe, tonights small turnout was perhaps predictable, but does this stop Sarah bringing all she can to the show? Not one bit. The set begins with an unreleased number ‘Could Know Better’, which when it comes to a close, the entirety of the audience are already entranced. The room of no more than twenty applaud the Minneapolis-born singer with an enthusiasm of easily double that number, a trend which only grows at the show progresses.

Sarah herself is an absolute star in the making and her body language exudes confidence many bands far bigger than herself fail to achieve. Her stage presence is inspiring as she supplies personal stories of her past and their influence over her music, intertwined with a sense of humour that makes it near impossible to stop listening to each word she speaks.

Numbers such as ‘Wake Me Up’ at first seem to feel like a melodic ballad, yet then thrust into a hard-hitting chorus with themes of angst and passion. This is one trend that makes Sarah’s sound so special, each song holds a sense of unpredictability making each feel completely different from the last.

Despite having only released three tracks to the public, Sarah’s music has already begun to create some very big waves across the globe. As such, tonight's show primarily focuses on her upcoming debut and offers an exciting insight into the tone of the album and what audiences can expect. Her skills on the keys are phenomenal as each note is played with a distinct delicacy yet still holds the power to inflict mass awe throughout the room, which her vocals equally match. I would even go as far to say that her live vocals exceed that of the recorded versions.

Whilst Sarah’s accompanying band tonight do play pristinely and coherently, bringing a very necessary level of depth to each number, it is Sarah’s solo numbers where she truly excels. Each quieter number holds a there of its own, some inflict large senses of nostalgia, whilst others tell stories of heartbreak and changes. It is also in these songs that her stunning vocal variation is shown, there is a overwhelming sense of emotion behind each lyric which meets the ear when extremely warming way. Sarah easily transforms what is essentially an empty stage with only her keyboard into what feels more as though she is playing alongside a grand piano to a stadium-sized audience.

Tonight’s set is short and sweet, it is long enough to demonstrate how varied and unique each of her numbers is, whilst still leaving a large sense of mystery surrounding the upcoming release. Tracks such as the rightly named ‘Can’t Slow Down’ provide a popping melody that easily holds the capabilities to get a crowd moving and fan favourite ‘Keep on Dreaming’ offers a satisfying crescendo to the evening as it builds from soft beginnings into an array of awe inspiring sound.

My only critique tonight is that there were not more people present to witness the set! The name Sarah Walk is one I can see being very high up on festival lineups across the planet in the future and after tonights performance, I certainly look forward to listening to the fresh material and am excited to see the limits that Sarah’s talents will be able to take her to in the future.
Ben Walker

Website: sarahwalkmusic.com
Facebook: facebook.com/sarahwalkmusic
Twitter: twitter.com/sarah_walk