40 Watt Sun starts with Colours, a voice that shimmers like a dream, each note fingerpicked with a quiet, reassuring grace.
The melody unfolds gently, weaving through the air in a delicate, almost hypnotic embrace. Its simplicity is its strength—each sparse note lingers with poignant familiarity, a beauty born from restraint. There’s a quiet elegance in its minimalism, an aching tenderness that feels like home.
His guitar rings out with a rich, mellow tone, weaving classical notes with a timeless style. Folk and country slides dance softly through echoey acoustics, warm and bold, embracing the air with gentle power.
The audience at The Lexington is utterly spellbound, enveloped in a ‘close and holy darkness,’ a sacred stillness that binds hearts and minds alike.
Patrick Walker's vocal prowess cuts through the silence, stalling time as he sings of love's longing and its solace.'
Pour Your Love, a standout track from his recently released album Little Weight, is a hauntingly beautiful offering. The poignant lyric, “Cool me in a love I can see through…pour your love on top of me”, resonates deeply, weaving an emotional spell over the audience. Absorbed by the powerful words, they find themselves immersed in an atmosphere of raw intensity and profound stillness. Patrick Walker’s vocal prowess cuts through the silence, stalling time as he sings of love’s longing and its solace. In his call for it to “Close me in the folds of your peace”, souls are stilled, and hearts are touched.
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There is a juxtaposition between the mesmeric intensity of 40 Watt Sun’s performance, the potency and substance of his singing and the submissive admiration of the audience. You can feel the adoration pulsing.
40 Watt Sun is famously unbound by a setlist (he never uses one), instead inviting the crowd to share their requests. Bruce, a devoted superfan stationed directly in front of him all evening, had both requests and guitar picks ready to offer. Such was the beauty of the evening that it stirred a collective yearning—didn’t we all wish we had a plectrum at hand, so we too might contribute to this gentle and unexpectedly stirring exposition of music?
Behind My Eyes (a song three years in the making, yet he confesses he still can’t remember the words) – Among the crowd, eyes close in serene bliss, swept away by the hypnotic cadence of fingerpicking. With only thumb and forefinger as his tools—how can so many notes cascade so effortlessly?—the melody weaves through us, a soothing tide. Above it all, his legato sung notes ascend, soaring, lingering, wrapping the room in their embrace.
warmth, simplicity, and instinctive spontaneity are masterfully underpinned by raw vulnerability and a deep, authentic emotion."
Pitch shifts, guitars swap and re-tune, capos lending their subtle magic. Sometimes the guitar is strummed in steady rhythm, other times delicately plucked, each note a shimmering thread. His voice—equally commanding in piano or forte—emerges as a powerful, controlled force. Resonant and penetrating, it flows effortlessly over deliciously meandering notes and chords, wrapping the listener in its vibrant embrace.
Back to normal tuning for Toledo, a little gem from The Blue Nile—a Scottish band cherished by 40 Watt Sun and recently name-checked by Taylor Swift. In doing so, Swift unveils Walker’s personal, private pleasure to the wider world. Yet, we wonder: when will Swift, in turn, name-check 40 Watt Sun? Surely, it’s only a matter of time. Walker follows this with Astoria—the first single from his new album—a composition that feels both self-contained and expansive. Its warmth, simplicity, and instinctive spontaneity are masterfully underpinned by raw vulnerability and a deep, authentic emotion.
Words hold a sacred weight tonight, each one crystal clear, deliberate, and infused with intention. Patrick Walker takes us on a surprising journey, singing Iron Maiden‘s ‘Wasted Years‘ with a poignant depth that transforms the metal anthem into something intimate and tender. Then, he offers a Christmas gift in the form of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,’ delivered with flawless grace. There isn’t a trite or corny moment to be found – just heartfelt honesty, a true reflection of his self-assured talent and unshakable authenticity.
Marazion—a beautiful, remote village in Cornwall where some of his songs take root—becomes the final offering we hear before he assumes we’ve drifted away. In that fleeting moment of liberation from the clicking and scribbling, he shares a palpable sigh of relief with his loyal fans (including Bruce, mentioned earlier, whose smile we’ve been chasing in vain all evening, hopeful for a quote). 40 Watt Sun lets the—let’s face it—slightly acerbic commentary flow freely, right up until we gently remind him, “We’re still here,” steadfast at the very back, by the loos. It’s a compliment, you know—sometimes we’re gone by the first three…
40 Watt Sun played The Lexington on December 18th 2024
