Fifteen Minutes of Fame Music Entertainment

Originally Published on December 9th, 2025

~ About the Artist ~

One of the most bittersweet realizations I’ve come to learn is that, when the world is good, folk music isn’t very prominent. Adversely, when the world isn’t doing so well, folk music is everywhere, all at once, and it’s beautiful. Folk music can be more than songs about protest, but truthfully, folk found its voice in protest. There’s always been folk music, folk tales and poems, because there have always been reasons for people to rise against injustice. Well, if I were to assess the state of our planetary habitat today, I would say we’re in a “not doing so well,” era. As one would expect, the music is quite incredible.

Last week, I happened across a musician responsible for some of the wonderful music I’m referring to. Out of Cambridgeshire, UK, Ellie Walker is elevating and expanding the soundscape of indie-folk. Walker released her debut EP, I Know EP in 2006. From the very beginning, I Know EP raises eyebrows. The title track is a soothing piece that is primarily accompanied by piano but ends with a soft crescendo of a vocal assembly as it moves through space like somebody politely shifting themselves through a crowded room. Walker keeps her gentle tone in with Tonight, but switches to a guitar. Then, with Up, she lets the full band open up and operate within the sound space.

Walker sings in a thinly toned-soprano. Using little vibrato or ornamentation, she executes with precision as she meets every note with technical discipline. From the release of I Know EP, she scored performances at some major UK events, like O2 Indigo, Radio 1’s Big Weekend, and internationally her music was featured in a rotary watch advertisement.

After 2010, Walker took a break from her work as an indie recording artist and instead worked as a music therapist and spent some time with her family. She would return to songwriting, however, and in 2023 she would release her debut LP, Sink or Swim.

From the beginning, Sink or Swim sounds broader than I Know EP. While operating on the foundational indie folk familiarity of her previous release, Sink or Swim experiments with alt rock, alt pop. With the title track, Walker plays with the rhythm and transitions of the chord progressions with chromatics and melodies that can at times remind the listener of old classical compositions, and then turn around and separate her song from monotonously fitting into a standard progression change. It’s really well done. The best song on the album is Halfway There that features vocal harmonization that is reminiscent of some of Brandi Carlile’s earlier work. The timbre of this song is excellent as it shifts from staccato to legato between verses and choruses. It maintains a musical playfulness while giving the audience this release of beautiful resolve when she sings the lyrics “when you fall.” Another favorite of mine is Hold Your Horses. I love the pizzicato of the strings.

As far as debuts go, it sounds nothing like a debut. It sounds every bit as a composition that has been produced by a musician with the experience and talent Ellie Walker most certainly possesses. She also has a knack for connecting with her audience that reflects through an intimacy that carries out through her music whether she is performing with an accompaniment of one instrument or a full band.

~ About the EP ~

On December 5th, 2025, Ellie Walker released her second EP, The Balance EP. This 4 song work runs a little more than 12 minutes, and features 4 singles released prior in the year by Walker. Songwriting is credited to Eleanor Chalmers (Walker), are performed by Eleanor and Michael Chalmers, Max Wherlock, Mark Boxall, and Carly Cole. The project was recorded, mixed, and mastered at The Sickroom in Norfolk, by Owen Turner.

Walker continues the trend of starting her work with strong starts. The opening song, Balance, is jubilant as it features a full band and horns, woodwinds, and an array of instruments that give a proper accent to the work. Its melody just dances around in the listener’s head with delight.

The second song, The Old Oak, takes the tempo down and transitions to a more melancholic but sweetly intoxicating, steady progression. Every instrument is sticking to assignment here. They play with purpose, accompanying Walker’s vocals as she pleads with the listener to “Just hold on.”

Listening to Let me Go is a special treat. The song hides in the idea of a simple pop record but then incorporates rhythmic complexities that almost sneak past the ear, and once again, the composition is so great with the subtle passing tones to change a chord in the progression. Walker does a wonderful job of surprising the listener with little accents once again.

The final track, One Day, is uplifting, resolute, and powerful.

~ Final Thoughts ~

There are layers to Ellie Walker’s music. It’s fascinating to explore her story. Debuting in the mid 2000’s, then taking a break for more than a decade to make her return with new music that exhibits every bit of growth as if she had never stopped recording.

The music: it’s eloquent, it’s catchy, and it’s soothing. It could be a proper representation of organically composed pop genre, it fits into some aspects of roots and Americana, as well as indie and alternative folk music. It’s comparable to Jewel, Feist, Lisa Loeb, and The Swell Season. I would even say there are similarities to Iron and Wine.

I am glad Walker has made the decision to return to the recording arts. As it turns out, her best work has always been ahead of her. In a world where the arts are under constant attack, that world needs the Ellie Walkers.

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