Echo Scale™: 4.7/5 ★★★★☆
A Voice That Stops You Cold
Every now and then, a song arrives that doesn’t just ask for your attention it demands it. Kate Prendergast’s Retold Tale, released on 19th September 2025, is one of those rare moments. The young Irish multi-instrumentalist has already established herself as a rising voice with previous singles like Past Letters, Undergrowth, Lavender Country, and Ignition. But here, on her fifth release, she raises the stakes.
The first thing you notice is her voice. Haunting, soulful, and disarmingly mature, it glides over the track with nuance and control that feels years beyond her age. Every phrase drips with intention. Her vocal delivery doesn’t just sing the lyrics it interprets them, twisting tone and phrasing to match emotion. It’s the kind of voice that silences a room.
Storytelling With Teeth
The title Retold Tale carries a weight in itself a nod to the way stories are reshaped, revisited, and reclaimed over time. Kate uses that idea as a canvas, painting a portrait of the universal struggles young artists face while carving out their place in both the music industry and everyday life.
Rather than relying on clichés, her lyricism blends poetic imagery with grounded honesty. There’s grit in her words, but also vulnerability. You can hear echoes of Bob Dylan’s lyrical storytelling, Jeff Buckley’s soul-baring delivery, and the modern moodiness of Radiohead yet the voice telling this story is unmistakably her own.
Arrangement That Serves The Song
Great songs are built on choices. With Retold Tale, every choice feels intentional. The instrumentation doesn’t compete with Kate’s voice it supports it. Subtle guitar lines weave beneath the vocal, while atmospheric textures swell and recede like waves. The rhythm section knows its place, grounding the track without ever overwhelming it.
It’s a masterclass in restraint. Where lesser productions might overcomplicate, Kate and producer Declan Legge allow space to breathe. That space is what makes her performance so magnetic. You’re not distracted you’re transfixed.
Production With Precision
Declan Legge deserves credit here too. The production captures the warmth and rawness of Kate’s voice without sanding down the edges. It’s polished, but not plastic. Organic, but never messy. Every layer from the understated guitars to the carefully placed harmonies feels purposeful.
The result is a sound that sits comfortably alongside her peers in the indie-folk and alternative rock landscape, while still carrying a distinct personality. It’s easy to imagine Retold Tale drifting across late-night radio, catching listeners off-guard with its quiet power.
Why Retold Tale Works
What makes Retold Tale stand tall is the way all its elements lock together with such conviction. Kate’s haunting vocals are the centrepiece, lingering long after the track ends, but it’s the subtle nuances in her phrasing that elevate the performance into something truly memorable. The instrumentation never tries to overshadow her, instead working as a careful frame around the painting. Her writing is fearless and rooted in personal truth, but it never strays so far inward that it loses its connection to the listener. And while the production polishes the song into a crisp final form, it never strips away the rawness that makes her delivery feel alive. It’s a rare balance authentic, mature, and deeply affecting.
The Verdict
Retold Tale isn’t just another single in a promising run it feels like a statement. A declaration that Kate Prendergast isn’t content with being a newcomer; she’s here to stay. With haunting vocals, sharp songwriting, and arrangements that know when to roar and when to whisper, this release positions her as one of Ireland’s most compelling new voices.
She may be drawing from great influences, but Kate’s strength is that she’s not imitating she’s interpreting, reshaping, and, most importantly, owning her story.
If you’re not already paying attention, now’s the time.
Echo Scale™: 4.7/5 ★★★★☆
Kate Prendergast has delivered a song that doesn’t just retell a tale it writes a new chapter for her career.
