Kathy Long – June (2025)
Kathy Long is an Irish folk musician, singer, and songwriter from County Kilkenny. Her latest single, ‘June’, continues to develop the moody, acoustic music that she has been creating since 2022 with the release of her single ‘We’re All Human’. Her early singles feature just Long on guitar or piano and give more than a passing nod to Van Morrison in their push and pull of tempos, ecstatic poetry, and connection to the natural world. The outlier, 2024’s ‘Glow Gold’, takes a hard left into electronic territory with a dominant keyboard sound. But today, we listen to ‘June’.
Released in 2025, ‘June’ expands Long’s acoustic sound with the addition of a band featuring drums, bass, and a banjo, and anticipates a forthcoming EP that will expand on the elements of fire, air, water, and earth. The track opens with Long and her guitar in a reverb-drenched, sharp treble setting. Words blur, and she sings as if working her way through an unfamiliar melody. The effect is one of discovery, as if she has just stepped out of her house into the sensory delight.
As if spurred on by the sights and smells, the drummer counts off with sticks, and the band picks up with a propulsive, loping rhythm, switching to what sounds like a minor key. The song continues to build with haunting background vocals and a banjo that heightens the rhythmic movement and sketches out part of the melody. ‘June’ eventually quiets down as Long asks repeatedly, “Can I sit here for a while?” The desire to soak up the beauty around her leads the song to end on a major chord that feels like it comes out of nowhere, but in fact, it’s the chord that starts the song.
‘June’ is full of surprises. Long’s voice can take you from quiet meditation to a kind of anxiety as she can become a tad strident during the song’s ebullient passages. Like her surname, her songs tend to be on the long side, but Kathy Long more than fills ‘June’ with a sensory journey that leaves you wanting to know what the other elements have in store.
Find out more about Kathy Long on her Instagram, TikTok and Spotify.
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