Fatea Review of “Let Your Heart Sing” by Kath Reade

Neil King of Fatea Magazine reviews ‘Let Your Heart Sing’, an album by Kath Reade

Kath Reade has been making music now for more years than she probably cares to remember. She performed in the early days of the now renowned Herga Folk club, a club that retains its interest very much in singers. Her early years as a musician were partly curtailed by her father’s insistence that she finish her education, so instead she went into the NHS, eventually rising to the post of Trust Chairman.

Outside of her day job, she retained her passion for music, meeting her husband in a folk club and as a couple going on to start their own. That passion also found a home in her politics and Kath has spent years working with and campaigning for the people that society has a tendency to try and leave behind.

The two big threads in her life were brought together as she became more involved in music therapy and sound as a healing force and this remains one wing of Kath as a musical tour de force and it really does provide a context for her most recent album “Let Your Heart Sing”.

“Let Your Heart Sing” is an album that is as much about making a difference from the outside as it is about building up the inside and becoming more at home in the world.

The twin themes of justice for all and music as a force for good intertwine as surely as the snakes interact with Hermes staff. Make no mistake, “Let Your Heart Sing” is an album that is as much about making a difference from the outside as it is about building up the inside and becoming more at home in the world.

Kath drafts in her son, jazz pianist Shaun, who, not coincidently, also works as a music therapist and is there, not only with the music of the album, but very much with the ideas that power it. “Let Your Heart Sing” is an album that feels like it’s there to booster hope, make you stronger within yourself and does so without feeling like it’s trying to push a philosophy down your throat.

There are moments of humour on the album, such as, “In The Jungle” which incorporates slices of “Wimoweh” into the composition and makes the song a lighter prospect than the early part of the song implies it might be.

“Let Your Heart Sing” is food for the spirit, every time I’ve heard the album, I’ve left it feeling happier than I went into it and that’s never a bad thing. Music as a healing force absolutely, but more importantly, Kath Reade has an album that it entertaining and that encourages you back, time and time again.

Neil King