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  29th
October 2005: Kate
is featured on the cover of the new German edition of Rolling Stone
magazine! Lets hope the US edition does likewise...German fans should also
check out the excellent fan site and forum here
and here.
Kate was extensively featured on Sky News on Monday 21st, and they
trumpeted the release of the single with hourly reports culminating in a
10 minute slot on The Sky Report in which fans and journalists were
interviewed on Kate's enduring appeal...the newly published biography of
Kate, simply entitled 'Kate Bush - The Biography' is reviewed in The
Times here
by St Etienne singer Sarah Cracknell: "Rob
Jovanovic’s biography portrays Kate Bush as a likeable, intensely creative personality. Her alternative, culturally enriched upbringing (spoon-fed Sibelius, C. S. Lewis, T. S. Eliot and T Rex) is enough to make the book good.
It is written with fondness and filled with train-spotter-ish details about recording sessions and musicians — a little too many for my liking, such a boy thing.
There are plenty of well chosen quotes, some of them very funny and
self-effacing...I was in the car taking my son to nursery and what did I hear on the radio but Kate’s new single, King of the Mountain. It came out this week and will be followed by her first album in 12 years,
Aerial. I was thrilled that the single was just what I wanted to hear, pure Kate Bush! A warm voice that draws you in, some nicely
avant-garde production and a load of old gobbledygook. Hooray!" The
book is out now and the author will be signing copies at a special reading
in Norwich on Sunday November 6th at Kulture Shock books. Lisa Redford and
Nobodaddy will also be appearing at the event to perform some songs in
tribute to Kate. More info here...Kate's
film The Line, The Cross and The Curve will be shown on the digital
channel Artsworld on Nov 8th at 7pm...there is now an official German site
for the new album/single, check it out here...also
note Brisbane Kate fans in Australia are gathering on Sunday 8th
November read more here...
Aerial
- album news round-up
 MORE
REVIEWS: The terrific reviews for Kate's eighth studio album are
stacking up...this album is already an enormous critical success for Kate,
each successive review getting us more and more excited for the release
day. Here's a brief look at most of them, reminding you that the full text
of reviews can be found in this
section of the
Gaffaweb archive. The
upcoming Mojo magazine we are all waiting to get our hands on gives
Kate not just a 5 star review but also their "Instant Classic"
rating! Jim Irvin writes: "Kate Bush is the greatest living British
artist in song and this is her masterpiece." Mark Blake in Q Magazine has given Aerial a 4-star review: "...committed
Katewatchers can while away the winter nights joining the dots between
Aerial and songs on her previous albums. It's all here (again): cities
under water, the harnessing of sexual energy, the elemental power of
Mother Nature; lots of watery, windswept shagging, then. King Of The
Mountain rallies the troops in a leisurely march heavenwards,
name-checking Elvis in a voice less mannered than of old. The song
smoulders and the same trick works again on How To Invisible, all bare
musical bones rattling behind lyrics touching on some never quite
specified fear waiting "at the end of the labyrinth"...when real
life creeps back in elsewhere, it gets a welcome twist. Mrs Bartolozzi
takes a washing machine and its mundane contents, subverting domestic
drudgery into a metaphor for something more exciting. By the song's
"swishing, swoshing" spin cycle, Bush has tumbled Allce In
Wonderland-style into the Hotpoint and ended up "wading into the
surf" where "fish swim between my legs". Earlier, on Pi,
she counts down numbers against spidery keyboard fills and an elastic
bassline, sounding like a female-fronted Talk Talk or a telephone sex line
for kinky mathematicians...on the first disc's closing track, A Coral
Room, though, Bush proves she can excel with just her voice and Gary
Brooker's piano as tools. Here, she spins a tale of an Atlantis-style
sunken city into the memory of, presumably, her late mother. It's a
spellbinding performance and the equal of anything on 1985's revered
Hounds Of Love...for everything-but-the-kitchen-sink thrills, though,
there is still the nine-part A Sky Of Honey. Bush embarks on another
quest, pulling the listener under water and up mountains, this time with
twittering birdsong, children's voices, maniacal laughter, a jazz rumba
and even a spoken-word turn from Rolf Harris, building in the manner of
vintage Kate Bush - Cloudbusting, The Big Sky, Breathing - into an
overblown spine-tingling denouement; this time with Danny McIntosh playing
a guitar solo that will put most in mind of Bush's mentor, Pink Floyd's
David Gilmour. "Could be we are here, could be in my dream," she
declares as the piece winds to its explosive conclusion. And it's a
statement that encapsulates the never-never land invented on Aerial. You
could lose yourself for days here. The world is a better place with Kate
Bush in it. She really should do this sort of thing more often." The magazine also made King Of The Mountain their video
of the week here...Aerial
is Music Week's Album Of The Week: "12 years out of the spotlight has done little to dim either Bush's allure or her musical potency. Indeed, she sounds as vital as ever on this 16-track, two-CD set - a dense, hypnotic album that couldn't have come from anyone else. As interesting musically as it is lyrically, Aerial takes in samba, classical, folk and even a touch of drum & bass, but it is the narrative, arrangements and production that elevate it into something special." The December 2005 issue
of Record Collector has Kate on the cover and a 9 page full-colour feature on "Collectable
Kate" and a four star review of Aerial: "...choc-a-bloc with familiar motifs and the elaborate, sculpted music that made millions worship her in the first place...what she has delivered is probably her most wholly satisfying work since 1985's Hounds of Love."
The Irish Times has also given Aerial a 4-star rating and made it
their CD Of The Week. Tony Clayton-Lea writes: "...this has more sonic smarts and intelligence than most of the sharpest current musical operators you can think of...an album with not a hint of the conventional about it, Aerial is a record made by a person whose values have shifted with age and experience, and which are suitably reflected...it doesn't work all the time, but when it does it's a triumph of warmth, depth and clarity." The
Channel 4 site provide a great track by track review of the album here.
They describe 'Bertie' as "a beautiful, warm and carefully structured
song", and are generally extremely enthusiastic about the album,
despite saying a lot of it is "nuts"!
 The BBC have reviewed the album on their website:
"...her voice escapes, rather than emerges, in that familiar part-piercing, part-haunting tone that uniquely can carry across consonants and vowels with seductive ease...How to be Invisible is side one's stand out track, with a real sense of menace in its driving beat.
"I found a book on how to be invisible. On the edge of the labyrinth," she sings...Aerial stands alongside The Hounds of Love and The Kick Inside as her finest work."
The Daily Express ran their review under the heading "It's bizarre - but Kate's quirks work".
"...this is an album that gradually wins you over...it's hard not to be impressed by its vision and artistic
integrity. The second CD is the real treasure, with its extended song cycle
about art, love and nature...the lyrics, music, use of sounds and the way Bush manages to bend and shape her
voice in this section all add up to create a truly moving piece of work that is relatively
free of her usual annoying eccentricities. Who'd have thought it? A Kate Bush
album that's actually a pleasure to listen to." Kitty Empire in The
Observer (October 30th) writes: "It is extraordinary - jaw-dropping, no less. It's also tearjerking, laugh-out-loud funny, infuriating, elegiac, baffling, superb and not always all that great. Her beats are dated, for instance; unchanged since the Eighties. For a technological innovator with the freedom of her own studio, Bush's whole soundbed really could do with an airing. And there's a sudden penchant for heady Latin rhythms here that sits a little awkwardly, even for this enthusiastic borrower of world music.
More problematically, however, Bush's whimsies have never been quite so amplified. If you thought the young Bush prancing around to Bronte was a little de trop, this album is not for you. There's a song about a little brown jug and one about a washing machine (both, though, are really about other things). There are several passages where Bush sings along to birdsong, and one where she laughs like a lunatic. Rolf Harris - Rolf Harris! - has a big cameo.
But Aerial succeeds because it's all there for a reason. And because the good stuff is just so sublime. 'King of the Mountain', Bush's Elvis-inspired single, is both a fine opener and a total red herring. Bush's juices really get going on 'Pi', a sentimental ode to a mathematician, audacious in both subject matter and treatment. The chorus is the number sung to many, many decimal places. It's closely followed by a gushing ode to Bush's son, Bertie, that's stark and medieval-sounding. The rest of disc one (aka A Sea of Honey) sets a very high bar for disc two, with the Joan of Arc-themed 'Joanni' and the downright poppy 'How to Be Invisible' raising the hair on your arms into a Mexican wave.
Disc two, subtitled 'A Sky of Honey', is a suite of nine tracks which, among other things, charts the passage of light from afternoon ('Prologue') to evening ('An Architect's Dream', 'The Painter's Link') and through the night until dawn. Things get a little hairier here.
The theme of birdsong is soon wearing, and the extended metaphor of painting is laboured. But it's all worth it for the double-whammy to the solar plexus dealt by 'Nocturn' and the final, title track. In 'Nocturn', the air is pushed out of your lungs as you cower helplessly before the crescendo. 'Aerial', meanwhile, is a totally unexpected ecstatic disco meltdown that could teach both Madonna and Alison Goldfrapp lessons in dancefloor abandon. It leaves you elated, if not a little exhausted. After the damp squib that was The Red Shoes, it's clear Bush is still a force to be reckoned with.
The problem, though, with female genius - for many men at least - is that very frequently it is not like male genius. And with its songs about children, washing machines going 'slooshy sloshy', Joan of Arc, Bush's mother, not to mention the almost pagan sensuality that runs through here like a pulse, Aerial is, arguably, the most female album in the world, ever. There's an incantation to female self-effacement that rewrites Shakespeare's weird sisters: 'Eye of Braille/ Hem of anorak/ Stem of wallflower/ Hair of doormat'. Even the one about maths is touchy-feely. But the artistry here is so dizzying, the ambition and scope so vast, that even the deafest, most inveterate misogynist could not fail to acknowledge it. Genius. End of."
Will Hermes, writing
in The New York Times in their Sunday Oct 30th edition says; "Like 1985's
Hounds of Love, perhaps her best record, her latest is split between a group of individual songs and a suite. But where "Hounds" is dense and agitated, busy with sounds created on the Fairlight synthesizer...Aerial is expansive and relatively relaxed.
Recorded with longtime associates, including Del Palmer on bass, many of the album's songs are arranged simply for voice and piano, like the exquisite
A Coral Room...sometimes Aerial is so relaxed, it drifts into smooth jazz territory. But Bush's voluptuous, slightly alien voice usually corrects by contrast: purring, trilling, cackling, jumping octaves and echoing itself, witchlike, in multitracked choruses."
The PLayback programme on  BBC
Radio 6 gave an overall positive review, with Aerial being described as an "intense emotional rollercoaster", a "return to form" and "definitely thumbs up".
How To Be Invisible was said to be the possible second single (US promo
posters for Aerial are also highlighting this track). Rob Chapman in The
Times writes: "Aerial is a double album and, like most doubles, it has its ponderous moments. Thankfully, it also contains half-a-dozen tracks that are as good as anything she has done, and its closing triptych, Somewhere In Between, Nocturn and Ariel, represents the most joyous and euphoric finale to an album that you will hear all year.
If the recent single and opening track, King of the Mountain, hinted at a newfound maturity in her voice, it also confirmed the increased sophistication of her lyrics. Who else inhabits the kind of skewed terrain where Elvis morphs into Citizen Kane? And who else would have written a homage to pi? “3.1415,” she coos over a rich bed of acoustic guitars. “926535,” she continues fetchingly...the second half of
Aerial abounds with twittering birdscapes, melting suns and artists who morph into their paintings, the whole shebang culminating with that extraordinary trio of songs in which Kate seems to merge with the birdsong. There really is no one quite like her.
There are moments on Aerial when you wish she would cut loose with the arrangements — which at times remain far too linear and rooted in a soundscape that she hasn’t tampered with significantly since the 1980s — and collaborate with a Massive Attack or a Future Sound of London.
But all is forgiven the moment you hear a song such as Mrs Bartolozzi, in which a life of domestic drudgery is suddenly transformed into something magically sensual just by watching a blouse and a pair of trousers intertwining in a washing machine. Shine on you crazy Hotpoint-wielding diamond."
Finally, The Times published a piece compiling qutes from many
famous fans of Kate's, and commented on Aerial thus: "With the arrival of Bush’s new album, Aerial, a sprawling double-CD of pagan poetry, artists from every genre and generation are lining up to pay homage to the faerie queen of British pop. Her perfectionist mastery of arranging and producing, her ability to juggle music with motherhood, her lyrical hinterland of heightened emotion and ripe sensuality — all have been interpreted as defiantly feminine, even feminist statements."
And finally BBC 2's Newsnight Review panel were split over the
merits of the album. The presenter and one guest felt it was a good album
that would grow with every listen while others couldn't get around Kate's
lyrics from Mrs Bartolozzi and complained that Kate wasn't being "the
right kind of eccentric".
 King
of the Mountain - single news round-up
29th
October 2005: King Of The Mountain is today in at number 4 on the CD:UK
chart on ITV...meanwhile
the video has been discussed at Contact Music here...the
single has entered the Irish charts at number 13...Kate's new
single has been a smash hit on alternative and college radio stations in
the USA - The Filter Weekly Radio Chart is
Filter Magazine's compilation of their favorite college, indie and modern rock and Adult Album Alternative stations around the country.
Kate is at number 1 in their Top Fifty Singles chart, which also includes
the excellent Sigur Ros, Death Cab For Cutie, Iron & Wine and My
Morning Jacket - great taste! See the chart here...The
Sun have made the single their Single Of The Week on 21st October,
rating it 5 out of 5 and devoting a whole page to Kate, reviewing every
single album also: "a magnum opus of almost five minutes filled with sophisticated beats, swirling synths and typically oblique lyrics. Happily Kate's voice doesn't sound the least bit rusty. It's a ravishing comeback."
Top Of The Pops give the single a 4-star review here and a great review written to appeal to the show's younger fanbase. "Right pop kids, get yer thinking caps on for a quick lesson in pop amazingness. Although Her Royal Bushness isn't your usual quirky pop sproglett (in fact, in pop terms she's positively ancient at 47!), she paved the way for pretty much every kooky and thoroughly unique female singer since. Without her, avante-garde pop a la Blur, Prince and The Killers would not have existed and Tori Amos, Christina Aguilera and Alison Goldfrapp would probably have been serving you chips over the nearest Spam-U-Like counter. And did we mention that she wrote the best elasticy-throated pop song ever, 'Wuthering Heights', when she was only 19? Anyhow, 'King of The Mountain' - her first single release in 12 years - has the usual Bush trademarks stomped all over it. Soaring fruity vocals, thought-provoking lyrics, a driving rhythm and gorgeous electronic twiddlings make this a gem of a song. But if jiggling your booty and punching the air is your thing, you'll probably hate it!"
Heat magazine gives the single a 4 star review: "Great excitement awaits the first single in 12 years from eccentric icon Kate Bush. Fans won't be disappointed with a song that flies from whispering electronic pulses to a finale of billowing melodies, edgy guitars and windswept choruses."
Gigwise also like the track here:
"Now children you may think it's a bit sad to like a track by an artist that your Dad fancied over twenty years ago, but Kate Bush deserves your attention. In a era of identikit pop stars we should thank our lucky stars that Bush has come back from the abyss to grace us with her presence and with 'King of the Mountain' she doesn't disappoint. Five minutes of Bush's eerily beautiful voice and a windswept ethereal melody proves truly mesmerising. Simplistic in the extreme it may be, but a great comeback it is also."
Simon Donohue of The Manchester Evening News rates the single 4 out
of 5 and says: "It sees her embarking on a slow ascent towards a suitable ethereal peak, synthesized wind, drums and gentle music providing a worthy companion for those familiar hanunted vocals. As the title also suggests, this is something more epic than the chart-friendly numbers which she was once known for. One way of summing it up is to say that it is one of those songs which had you turn out the lights, close the curtains and sit in the dark when testing out your early CD player, and it sets the scene for a towering comeback by one of the country's finest talents"
The UK's Metro paper says: "With its references to Citizen Kane and Elvis, the first outing in 12 years by the mighty Bush is as strange, haunting and surreal as you'd expect. Hardly a karaoke fave but her three-octave warble is treat enough. 4 out of 5."
Rolling Stone gives King Of The Mountain their 4-star rating: "After twelve years of silence from influential U.K. eccentric Bush, her fans are setting the Internet aflame with their joy at hearing her airy proto-Tori Amos vocals again. But even newcomers can appreciate this grandiose comeback, which veers pleasurably from spooky electronic pop to majestic, reggae-inflected rock."
Dotmusic rates the single 8 out of 10 here:
"Built around a revolving, processed xylophone mantra and some spaced-out guitar FX, Bush's enigmatic entrance from the fog is initially so vague and indecipherable as to conclude that she surely hasn't been frantically scribbling lyrics for the past decade. However, the track soon shifts powerfully into billowing clarity in a thunder crack of atmospheric, elemental power, whispers of "the snow in Rosebud" and claims that we may in fact be talking about Elvis Presley here.
While not exactly "Wuthering Heights" - but then, nothing is - "King Of The Mountain" marks the absurdly long-awaited return of a singular force."
Tired of all those amazing reviews yet? Here's how The Guardian reviewed the single on 22nd Oct: "Looks a bit like Delia Smith these days, does Kate - you're half expecting this single to start with a drunken cry of "Where are you?" In fact, this sets out promisingly, hoving in like a sea fret, as a Citizen Kane-inspired lyrical theme takes shape. But then, in comes the chorus, "The wind is whistling", and it's like the giant, corporate epic rock propeller has been trundled onstage and activated as in pile the session drums, like a drunken Phil Collins gatecrashing a pleasant soiree."
Well, we can't have everything ;)
[For all the very latest news
mentions check our forum's Medialog
section. The huge online Kate Bush resource Gaffaweb
is now being continually updated with all Aerial-related articles etc,
be sure to check it out. Note: Full International Aerial news
round-up coming soon.]
Top
More
(glowing!) Aerial Reviews
 20th
October 2005: So
far so very, very good - Aerial is raking up a crop of very
enthusiastic reviews. The Independent in the UK have
reviewed Aerial in the 21st October edition, under the headline "Finally, something for the grown-ups"..."Early next month, Kate Bush releases Aerial, her first new album since The Red Shoes back in November 1993. Even by the relaxed schedules adopted by pop's more established artists, this is an extraordinary career hiatus - not quite the 20 years separating Steely Dan's Gaucho and Two Against Nature, perhaps, but well on the way there.
Entire pop scenes and musical movements have budded, bloomed and withered in the interim...the more pertinent concern is whether her music remains relevant in a music landscape that has seen Britpop come and go, grunge atrophy into skate-metal, hip-hop conquer the known world, and talent-contest TV reduce chart pop to a production-line of vacuity. Changes flash by ever more rapidly in the modern, computer-assisted music world, and in decoupling from its dizzy progress for a dozen years, Kate Bush runs a serious risk of getting flattened like a hedgehog crossing a motorway upon her return.
Extraordinarily, she manages to traverse both carriageways with only superficial damage to a few spines: indeed, such is the idiosyncratic nature of her work that she could probably disappear for a half-century and still sustain her own unique position in the pop firmament. But then, who else would write about an obsessive-compulsive housewife or attempt a vocal duet with trilling birds, or, in the most courageous of the album's many unusual strategies, sing huge strings of numbers, a gambit that brings new meaning to the old critic's chestnut about being happy to listen to someone singing the telephone directory?
The only track so far available from the album, the single "King Of The Mountain", employs references to Elvis and Citizen Kane to illustrate her musings upon fame and wealth and isolation. "Why," she wonders, "does a multi-millionaire fill up his home with priceless junk?" The rest of the album - particularly the extended song-cycle that occupies the entire second disc - seems like her own suggestion as to how to use that lofty position more profitably, in a spiritual and aesthetic manner. A reggae lilt underscored with misty synthesiser textures, " King Of The Mountain" has the gently insistent quality that proved so effective on several of her previous singles.
The picture adorning the single's sleeve is by Bush's young son, " lovely, lovely Bertie", whose presence toddles joyously through much of the new album, clearly illuminating her world. Many years ago, back near the start of her career, she regarded the domestic demands of motherhood as a dubious prospect, claiming her work was her love, and how could she do that and bring up a child at the same time? The answer, presumably, was not to work for a dozen years.
Ironically, childhood - and particularly the struggle not to relinquish it - has always been one of the driving concerns of Bush's
work...it's certainly still a factor on Aerial , both in the track "Bertie" itself and in the memories and reminiscences that cobweb some other songs. But compared to the darker corners of the mind sometimes mined in earlier songs, the new album seems a much sunnier affair: an enduring image I took away from it - not necessarily a lyric, though it might have been - was of windows flung wide open, their curtains billowing out in the breeze, a room's long-dormant dust stirred into life again...at around an hour and a half, Aerial is unquestionably a substantial piece of work, and its manifold peculiarities and quirks offer much more interesting fare than that available from today's AOR mainstream. It's also a more mature undertaking than any of her previous albums, an extended meditation on art and light, fame and family, creativity and the natural world. Indeed it seems, come to think of it, like an expansion of the theme of Laura Veirs' gorgeous "Rapture". And since that was the finest song of last year, I'd have to say that leaves Kate Bush still operating at the cutting-edge of intelligent adult pop, every bit as relevant now as at any point in her career. Just a little bit weirder, thank heavens."
Read the full review at the Independent online edition
here.
 The Irish music magazine Hot Press has long
revered Kate, and the new issue published today has the front cover
headline "Kate Bush: A Work Of Genius". Tara Brady has given
the album the top rating, 10 out of 10. She writes: "We
may never know Kate Bush, but we may know this - she's been very happy
thank you very much. Both parts of
Aerial
-
A Sea Of Honey
(the collection she calls 'Kate songs') and
A Sky Of Honey
, a concept album inspired by birdsong and in part, Rolf Harris, are
infused with joy.
A Sea
almost functions as a brand new retrospective, a classically watery wall
of sound with gorgeous pop hooks. There are millions of impossibly
beautiful things about it - the hippity hoppity reggae beats across the
oceanic pop of 'King Of The Mountain', the pretty jangling guitars of
'Pi', the bongo sensuality of 'Joanni', the Latin noodles on 'How To Be
Invisible', the familiar Hey Nonny Nonny Ophelia groove of 'Bertie', an
achingly sweet ode to her son ("Here comes the sunshine/Here comes
that son of mine/The Most truly fantastic smile I've ever seen")
which suddenly sweeps into a baroque masquerade ball. There's an arch
wit to match the playful rhythms. 'Mrs Bartolozzi' is a brilliant
inverted mock epic with thundering theatricality about a washing machine
spiralling out to the sea before returning to a chorus that runs 'Swishy
Swashy'.
A Sky Of Honey
, though rather daunting and potentially new age on paper, is equally
delightful. Decadently and pleasingly fashioned from birdsong, giggling
and electronics, there's a nice circularity in
Sky
's bassy echoes of
Dark Side Of The Moon
, bringing Kate right back to Dave Gilmour where it all began. It's apt.
It's a neat reminder that this most girlish talent - a woman who sings
of posies and kisses and crushes on Heathcliff - has always, beneath the
whimsy, been skilled enough in musical architecture to fit snugly into
record collections built around Kraftwerk and Can. If there's more where
Aerial
comes from then we'll wait and we'll like it."
Portrait by Jon Berkley (www.holytrousers.com) for Hot Press
Also in Ireland, in the online Sigla
magazine, Sinéad Gleeson raves about the new album: "The single...is seen as a positive precursor of what’s to come on the album. Bush presents the story of Elvis the lost genius, through swooping, sweeping strings. A wood percussion sample (marimba? xylophone?) runs through adding a playful note and with one song down, it’s so far so good. Pi reminds us that we’re in Kate Bush land, where song titles about circles and numerical rambling are delivered via Bodhrán beats and keyboards stabs. By song three, you begin to notice something. The velvet pitch of her voice not only sounds as good as expected after a 12-year hiatus, it has a deeper, bewitching resonance. Production on some of the earlier albums tended to accentuate its shrill quality, not doing justice to Bush’s capability as a vocalist. Here, every nuance is teased out, arching along the spectrum of imagination.
‘Bertie’ oozes pride and spirituality. Mandolins swirl around the line “you bring me so much joy/and then you bring me more joy”, repeated like a maternal mantra. ‘Mrs. Bartolozzi’ is a real surprise; on the surface a simple domestic tale of washing machines – “splashy
sploshy… get those cuffs and collar clean” - hints at something darker. Could anyone else sing about doing laundry and make it sound so beautiful?
This is in part, due to a camerilla of contributors who she has worked with consistently over the years. The musical arrangements by long-time (and sadly late) Michael Kamen echo the multi-layered orchestration of The Sensual World. Most obvious on the single and ‘Joanni’ (about Joan of Arc), strings and drums build to the kind of epic mysterious highs we’ve come to expect. ‘A Coral Room’, a reflective piano piece recalls her mother and strikes the same poignant chimes as ‘This Woman’s Work’...In ‘Prelude’, vocals mimic wood pigeons and a child cackles happily, ‘Prologue’ boasts a cello echo bouncing off strings and grand piano. Much has been made of Rolf Harris’ appearance on the album – on ‘An Architect’s Dream’ and ‘The Painter’s Link’ - but this time he’s without his
didgeridoo, offering subtle vocals instead. The latter is troubled by more overbearing bass but it segues in to the chameleon ‘Sunset’. All three contain the same recurring motifs, rhythms and sounds. Kate tells us “this is a song of colour”, apt imagery for her broad canvas of moods and sounds. The tempo quickens and out of nowhere Spanish guitars usher in a mariachi skiffle.
It’s obvious CD 2 is a test site of sorts for Bush’s continuing interest in non-linear musical form and eclectic instruments. ‘Aerial Tal’ continues the birdsong and the most palpable electonic flashes surface briefly. Before it all gets too vague and unhinged, Kate delivers the best track on the entire album. ‘Somewhere In Between’ consolidates the overall epic rush of Aerial, but its off kilter drums, bass-heavy beats and dreamy incongruity make this the most original piece here...the title track ‘Aerial’, is sheer hysterical abandon. Violin loops fade in and out, tribal beats steer bird tweets and mandolin. By the end, you literally can’t help yourself stamping your feet...these are songs of the imagination that transport you to a place where you want to daydream compulsively."
Read the full review here.
Classic Rock magazine has a 7/10 rated
review from Hugh Fielder: " The opening, reassuringly familiar-sounding King Of The Mountain is all about whistling winds, rising storms, and 'the snow with Rosebud'. By track four she's up to her waist in water with 'little fishes swimming between my legs'. Only at the end of the record, when she gets into a fit of the giggles, do you suddenly realize you are listening to the sound of middle-aged laughter.
There have been other changes, of course. Most notably, Kate has become a mum; and she definitely become the woman with the child in her eyes on Bertie - 'More joy and such joy that you bring me,' she trills above the medieval backing.
Such domesticity has also inspired Mrs. Bartolozzi where, before her encounter with the aforementioned fishes, she is fascinated by a washing machine, watching as the clothes swirl around, her skirt entwined with his trousers...elsewhere she gets intrigued by numerology and circles on
Pi, the chorus recites Pi's never-ending value. But you're never far from finding 'clothes on the beach and footprints leading to the sea'... after only one listen it's hard to grasp the threads. But her patient fans will be delighted that there is honey still for tea."
The UK gay media have been ardent Kate
supporters and in this month's Attitude magazine (Madonna cover)
Patrick Strudwick gives Aerial a 5 out of 5 rating, describing the album
as "the ultimate in unbridled,
unself-conscious masterpiece." Strudwick gives Aerial a glowing
review: "Bush followers, who have been gnawing at their flesh for
12 excruciating years in antsy anticipation of this eighth studio album,
will weep with joy. In part from relief, that after all this time Ms
Bush has delivered 84 exquisitely non-commercial minutes to rival her
most celebrated
Hounds of Love
album. But also because the music itself is glistening with such
euphoria as to render anti-depressants unnecessary. Seven years ago Kate
gave birth to Bertie. If ever an album conveyed a mother viewing the
world with the wide-eyed wonder of youth again, then Aerial does. Debut
single
King of the Mountain
, the opening track on the first album (entitled
A Sea of Honey
), is a red herring, though. The whistling winds and haunting musings
about Elvis are like the darkest hour just before dawn. Daylight doesn't
break just yet, mind. First you have funky-bassed
Pi
, where Kate sings the mathematical calculation to 84 decimal places.
(Would love to see Jessica Simpson attempt that). Next comes
Bertie
, a rinky-dink paean to her son, hailing directly from the 16th century,
thanks to Renaissance guitars and a three-time jig. The mood saddens
with
Mrs. Bartolozzi
. Remembering when her now late husband returned home so muddied that
she had to clean all his clothes, she watches the washing machine spin
round and mourns. "Slooshy, sloshy/Slooshy sloshy/Get that dirty
shirty clean." Though seemingly uninfluenced by pop music of the
last 12 years, Kate's production, particularly on
How To Be Invisible
, is cutting-edge. Other-worldly electro-glitches dance around her voice
as she conjures a piss-take witches' spell: "Eye of Braille/Hem of
anorak/Stem of wallflower/Hair of doormat". Fans of
This Woman's Work
will swoon at
A Coral Room
where Kate's incomparably beautiful voice - now even richer - soars over
sumptuous piano chords as she laments her late mother. This is the
English rose of old, emotions erupting, lava-like. Day breaks on the
second disc,
A Sky of Honey
, which is homogenized by sprinklings of sampled and imitated birdsong
as Kate guides us through a perfect summer's day in the countryside.
It's impossibly poetic.
Sunset
opens with a running stream of a piano accompaniment, with pizzicato
double bass, you're then transported to Spain with a flamenco dance of
the utmost gay abandon. The effect is so exhilarating it'll have you
stomping your feet and flapping the ruffles of an imaginary red dress.
Or perhaps that's just me. On
Somewhere in Between
you're up a mountain drinking in the vista, as rhumba-esque rhythms
infuse her marvelling at the dimming light. Night has fallen now with
Nocturn
seeing our storyteller head to the beach. "No one is here/We stand
in the Atlantic/We become panoramic." A thumping beat climaxes as
the sun comes up. "Rising and rising in a sea of honey/A sky of
honey".
Aerial
, the finale, finds Kate wanting to "go up onto the roof", as
a bravura electric guitar solo crackles like an aerial conducting
lightning. A crash sounds, leaving the birds tweeting and fading into
the distance. Worth the wait? Every. Last. Second." Gay
Times also have a 2 page article about Kate's return by Chelsea Kelsey and Richard Smith
in the November issue. The Pink Paper continues to run the
"Up Queer Street" cartoon strip which often references Kate
such as in this recent one here.
More King Of
The Mountain Reviews
20th
October 2005: The NME has
reviewed the single in style: "Ok, so it was hardly worth waiting a decade and a bit for but then what is? Nothing that we can think of. What it is, mind, is an apt reminder of just how little everyone else is trying right now and just how Ms Bush has been missed. It's five minutes of druggy acenes, has a mental breakdown in the middle, and sounds like Sade washing down lyrical razorblades with plummets of fizzy white wine nabbed from Massive Attacks rider. But with more heart than a Canadian AOR radio station or a passionate snog with a Care Bear. If we were excited about the album before we heard this (and we were, very), now we're EXCITED IN BIG CAPITAL LETTERS."
Eye Weekly in Toronto writes: "The famously melodramatic (some would say screechy) chanteuse's influence on such singers as Björk and PJ Harvey has come full circle on "King of the Mountain," currently available only as a download. The rumbling bass and propulsive drumming recalls Harvey's "A Perfect Day, Elise," while Bush takes her creepy torch-song vibe down a notch, mostly reining in her upper register to
devastatingly intense effect. Learning how to smoulder is the final frontier for great singers, and Bush does it without giving up the vulnerability that made every teenage wallflower in the '80s stare longingly at her LP jackets."...here's
an article on Peter Bochan's Alternative Music Blog which reveals
that King Of The Mountain is the 231st song about Elvis! "At least one of his white jump suits is in the video with Kate, along with a storyline that seems to be a throwback to the "Is Elvis Still Alive" period in tabloid journalism, mixed with some Citizen Kane "Rosebud" imagery and some dodgy shots of Kate that seem to hide her from any full-figure viewing--maybe she's going through her own "later elvis" type period. Whatever the reason, this first sample from the upcoming "Ariel" is very encouraging, "King Of The Mountain" is vintage sounding and full of the usual "moments of pleasure" that Kate has been delivering since 1977's "Wuthering Heights".
Read more here...BBC
Radio 1 may be largely ignoring the single from it's playlists (no,
we can't figure it out either) but one DJ, Rob Da Bank continues
to rave about the single: "She makes us wait 12 years and then bam! She’s back and jeepers creepers the lady’s been busy if this, the first single from her new album
Aerial is anything to go by. Wooshy wind noises – check! Mystical lyrics – check! Genius reggae guitar and bountiful production – check! Best pop song of the year so far and proud to be a Blue Room tune. Welcome back!"
See it at the BBC Radio 1 website here...finally,
need wheels to get to the record shop next week to buy the single? The
"big black car" from the Cloudbusting video is up for
sale - see here!
op
King of
The
Mountain - The Video!
  18th October 2005: Seán says: Stunning! Talk about Kate's triumphant
return...it's the perfect companion to the song. Was anyone else
surprised to see so much warmth and humour injected into the subject
matter?
It gives the opening track of Aerial so many new aspects to
explore. I remember a quote I read from Irish author Roddy Doyle when he
reviewed Peter Guralnick's unsurpassed biographies of Elvis Presley
('Last Train To Memphis' and 'Careless Love'). Doyle said: "The
book's biggest achievment is that it gives back Elvis Presley his
humanity". I love that quote, it
sums
up Guralnick's
labour of love
and it's equally now true of Kate's King Of The
Mountain. My nose started to sting with emotion when I saw the Elvis
suit flying back across a tranquil sky to be reuinted with his elderly
but now childlike self. Kate's wonderfully expressive face seems to will
this reunion to happen, far away from the lonely, ghostly confines of
the windy house that the video opens with. Her mischievous, knowing
performance makes us smile along with her. I finally, fully 'get' this
song. The clip is also obviously littered with many clues and teasing
hints about th e
Aerial album itself - no accident that Kate has feathers in her hair or
that the washing on the line takes on a life of its own set against a
painterly sky. I couldn't be happier with this video. It's a joy to see
Kate looking so in command of her art, the video is uniquely her. Every
frame is as appropriate to this meditative, hypnotic song as once a
tutu, some rollerskates and a dunces cap somehow clinched everything she
needed to say over two decades ago. I have to agree with BBC Radio 2's
Richard Allinson when yesterday he called this "a stunning,
stunning video". p.s. if the theory that a disguised Kate Bush
plays the part of the pink-rinsed retired Elvis is true her genius will
be confirmed utterly!
A description of the
video (thanks Krys!), which received its world premiere on Channel 4 on
Saturday 15th October at 10.40pm: Kate's new video opens with an atmospheric black and
white impression of Charles Kane's empty mansion full of priceless junk,
whilst newspaper headlines about Elvis swirl by. Kate is glimpsed
until she is seen singing and swaying to the music. A ghostly
Elvis suit dances with Kate before taking wing with the Canada Geese to
Shangri-La where an elderly Elvis hides in the snowy mountains with
Kane's famous sledge Rosebud. The video can be seen at Kate's official
site www.katebush.com
Note: If
you're looking for a quicker download (but
with reduced
quality) than on the official site you can try these other King Of The Mountain video streaming
options. Right-click and save on the one you want.
Real
Media (High) - Real
Media (Low) - Windows
Media (High) - Windows
Media (Low)
Aerial
- Artwork &
Tracklisting
Beautiful.
The artwork first appeared as a hidden treat on the official site's
holding page, but didn't take long to be spotted (thanks Andrea!). Forum
users are debating whether the "reflected rocks" in the image
are actually a sonic wave form (thanks PDFM!)...a fascinating theory,
could it be birdsong? CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
(and see if you can spot the KT symbol? - with thanks to Wieland) This
tracklisting is now officially
confirmed by EMI. Please ignore other track lists you may have seen
floating around - this is the real one.
 |
Part
One: A Sea of Honey
1. King Of The Mountain
2.
p
3. Bertie
4. Mrs. Bartolozzi
5. How To Be Invisible
6. Joanni
7. A Coral Room
Part Two:
A Sky of Honey
1.
Prelude
2. Prologue
3. An Architect's Dream
4. The Painter's Link
5. Sunset
6. Aerial Tal
7. Somewhere In Between
8. Nocturn
9. Aerial
|
Aerial - Five
star review from The Observer!
16th
October 2005: As if fans didn't have enough to celebrate this
weekend with the King Of The Mountain video, Kate's
new album has received a glowing review from The Observer
newspaper in the UK. Jason Cowley writes: "Twelve years is a long time to wait for a new record from any artist, even from one as consistently inventive as Kate Bush, but at least Aerial offers value. It's a 14-track double album, and the more experimental of the two records is 'A Sky of Honey'. It begins not with music but with the sound of birdsong, the wind in the trees and the voice of a child calling for her parents. What follows is a suite of seven unashamedly romantic and interconnected songs taking us on a long day's journey into night and then on through to the next morning when birdsong is heard once more and the whole cycle starts all over again...'A Sky of Honey' is music of pagan rapture - songs about acts of creation, natural or otherwise; about the wind, rain, sunlight and the sea. Sometimes it is just Kate alone at her piano, her voice restrained. Sometimes, as on the outstanding 'Sunset', she begins alone and softly, but soon the tempo quickens and the song becomes an experiment in forms: jazz, progressive rock, flamenco.
There are weaknesses. At times, Bush can be too fey and whimsical,
especially on 'Bertie', which is about the joy of motherhood, or on 'Mrs
Bartolozzi', a rhapsody to nothing less than a washing machine: 'My
blouse wrapping itself around your trousers... slooshy sloshy/ slooshy sloshy.' And the bold, musically adventurous second album is a little too insistent in its 'hey, man' hippyish sensibility, with Kate running freely through the fields or climbing high in the mountains...'What kind of language is this?' Kate Bush sings, self-interrogatively, on the title track, the last of the album. It's a good question, to which she offers a partial answer on 'Somewhere in Between', which in ambition and content is where most of the songs on this album are suspended - somewhere in between the tighter, more conventional structures of pop and the looser, less accessible arrangements of contemporary classical and the avant-garde; somewhere, in mood and atmosphere, between the lucidity of wakefulness and the ambiguity of dream; between the presumed innocence of childhood and the desire for escape offered by the adult imagination; between abstraction and the real. Even when she escapes her wonderland to write songs about actual figures in the known world, she remains attracted to those figures such as Elvis ('King of the Mountain', the album's first single) or Joan of Arc
('Joanni') that, in death as indeed in life, have a mythic unreality. So, again, what kind of language is this? It is ultimately that of an artist superbly articulate in the language of experimental pop music. But it is also the language of an artist who doesn't seem to want to grow up. Or, more accurately, who has never lost her child-like capacity for wonder and for pagan celebration and who, because she is sincere and can communicate her odd and unpredictable vision in both words and through sumptuous music, occupies a cherished and indulged position in the culture. There is no one quite like her, which is why, in the end, we must forgive her excesses and eccentricities. We are lucky to have her back."
Read the full review at The Observer site here
King Of
The Mountain Storms Top 10 UK Download Chart
15th
October 2005: King Of The Mountain has entered the official UK
download chart this week at number 6, only the new single from Robbie
Williams has had a higher new entry. See the chart here
Detailed
Aerial Preview in The Times
15th
October 2005: Selected journalists are being allowed to listen to
Aerial at EMI offices to write up preview pieces before actual review
copies are distributed. Pete Paphides in The Times (14th October
edition) has written one such report based
on his first hearing, and while he indentifies tracks he wasn't keen on
first time round (read the full preview here)
and thus rates the album 3 out of 5 stars, this has gotten fans very
excited indeed. Here are some highlights: "Named after her son, Bertie is a mother’s mad love alchemised into song. “Sweet kisses/ Three wishes,” she sings,
"Lovely, love-ly Bertie." Over and over again, repetition reduces the two words into tongues of adoration. And what instrumentation do you choose when trying to do justice to the greatest love of all? Why, Renaissance-era strings of course...the first CD, A Sea of Honey...yields a brace of songs that are among her best.
Mrs Bartolozzi is like a postcard sent from the most delirious depths of mourning. Laundry duties give way to a walk into the waves, and with it the low wheeze of a single cello
- the song’s two halves joined by Bush repeating a phrase. Not just any phrase, but the phrase
"washing machine". Twice. The same themes of loss seem to recur on A Coral Room. Here, her woozy depiction of "the spider of time...climbing over the
ruins" of a city comes into stark, startling focus when the singer’s dead mother is invoked through a single item, a favourite brown jug.
"It held her milk," she sings, "And now it holds our
memories." Pi, which takes as its subject matter a “sweet and gentle and sensitive man” in thrall to the transcendental number of the title.
"Oh he love, he love, he love/ He does love his numbers," runs the chorus over a brisk percussive gallop. Hats off to her for being the first auburn-haired pop spookstress to address the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter...with nine tracks that variously revolve around birdsong, the change from day into night (and back again) and a painter attempting to capture the scene before him, A Sky of Honey coheres more readily than its
"commercial" counterpart. An Architect’s Dream and The Painter’s Link have
Rolf Harris and Bush duetting over a spare string and piano arrangement. As his painting falls victim to a sudden downpour, he wearily exclaims,
"what has become of my painting?" But she’s enraptured:
"See the colours run...See what they have become/A beautiful sunset.” And so to the pagan abandon of Sunset, which has Bush offering herself to the dying light of the day over a deluge of flamenco guitars.
As day makes way for night and restraint into catharsis, Somewhere in Between has Bush once again chasing intangibles and emerging with the album’s unquestionable highlight: a life-affirming chorus of hushed harmonies and whispering rhythms with more than a hint of the sexual languor that gave The Sensual World of 1989 its knee-weakening frisson.
The final, eponymous, song on Aerial is also its most ambitious. A redemptive paean to the new day in which its creator joins the birds in their endless song — but not before a mid-song breakdown of hysterical laughter and trilling has ushered in a barrage of free-styling rock guitar."
The article concludes with "Five great Bush moments".
15th
October 2005: News Round-up: David Smyth in The Evening Standard
has also previewed Aerial here although he explains that he was only allowed to hear A Sky Of Honey,
the first disc: "I can report that disc one's seven distinct songs
constitute a fascinating listen, demonstrating all that Bush does best
and showing a notable change in her outlook. The slightly unhinged
wailer is nowhere to be heard here. Since her last album, The Red Shoes
in 1993, she has become mother to Bertie, now seven, and there is a
peaceful contentment evident throughout the new songs. Along with A
Coral Room, Mrs Bartolozzi is one of two songs played solo on
piano; it revels in domestic bliss, being principally about a washing
machine. On Pi, Bush continues to find beauty in the mundane,
softly reciting the infinite number over a waltzing rhythm and echoing
synths. As ever, plenty of nature imagery is conjured, especially on the
spooky spell described on How to Be Invisible. For lyrical
complexity she remains worlds ahead of the likes of Franz Ferdinand,
probably our most articulate contemporary band. But while she continues
to employ layered electronics to great effect, nothing here sounds
overly dramatic or elaborate. Even Joanni, about Joan of Arc
going into battle, remains stately and restrained. A reserved Kate Bush
is still more adventurous than a boatload of hip new guitar bands."...Music
Week has the Aerial artwork on its front cover this week, with a
large picture of Kate on the inside cover detail release dates and
album/single formats. The album is on their playlist "Two CDs, 16
tracks, 80 minutes of musical eccentricity, bordering on genius, this
album will challenge all listeners - the release of THAT voice should be
cherished." King Of The Mountain is their Single of the Week
"There is huge expectation for this single...it begins quietly with
a loping dub-like rhythm, with Bush's mysterious vocals seeming to tell
the story of a powerful man and the emotional cost of his success.
Already climbing the UK airplay chart, primarily because of Radio Two's
support, there is little doubt that she is back with a bang."
The Guardian has published a
fascinating piece written by Michael Berkeley on his involvement
with the recording of Hello Earth in 1984, well worth a read here...Billboard
in the US has reviewed King Of The Mountain: "Her first work
in 12 years is predictably ethereal, mosaic and nonconformist. That is
to say that it takes several listens to fathom what is going on, and
even then, it is a best guess. But there is that voice: angelic, fragile
and ever bewitching. It is all about atmosphere here."...King Of
The Mountain also gets a review on the Channel 4 site here...EMI
Canada have an Aerial E-Card which you can send here,
also Canadian fans in British Colombia can enter an Aerial preview
competetion here...NME
15th Oct issue have a 1 page feature on Wuthering Heights and
beyond...UK freebie gay mag Boyz has a Kate feature this week see here...Entertainment
Weekly in the US are running a poll
asking which album its readers are most anticipating, Kate is in second
place as I write...iTunes 6 (free download) now offers video
downloads of 4 Kate videos Rubberband Girl (US video), Eat The Music
(similar to, but different from, The Line, The Cross and The Curve
version), The Red Shoes and And So Is Love. Priced £1.89 each...Kate
has contibuted to a book to be presented to the family of the
electronics genius Colin Sanders of Solid State Logic (SSL), the
brand of mixing desk Kate uses. Mr Sanders tragically died in a
helicopter crash in 1998. The book will go on permanent display at the Colin Sanders Innovation Centre in Banbury.
Read more here...finally
one blog owner has done a very detailed analysis of the soundwave on the
Aerial cover, see it here.
Kate Speaks About Aerial
- US press release
 8th
October 2005: Columbia Records in the US have issued a press
release giving more details of the people who have worked on Kate's
new album, as well as some quotes from Kate about Aerial. Here are some
excerpts from it:
"I have been genuinely touched by the sense of anticipation I’ve
felt from people," says Bush. "I feel really privileged that
people have been waiting." A characteristically bold and expansive
work brimming with atmosphere, mystery, passion and complex aural
detail, the twin-disc 'Aerial' has already been declared a masterpiece
by all who have heard it. Realising that the amount of material she had
accumulated in her time away was unlikely to fit onto a single CD, Bush
made the decision to split the results in two, resulting in her first
double album. Disc One, entitled 'A Sea Of Honey', comprises seven
songs, ranging from the evocative lead-off single 'King Of The Mountain'
through to the emotive reading of a lengthy section of the infinite
series of numbers in 'p',
to the playful, spell-like 'How To Be Invisible' and the moving,
impressionistic conclusion ‘A Coral Room’. Disc Two, 'A Sky Of
Honey', is a conceptual piece in nine parts, built around recurring
motifs of light and birdsong, following a day from afternoon through
dusk and night and on to sunrise. "What is quite nice for me doing
the two discs," 'Aerial's creator explains, "is it allows me
to play with the semi-classical style which I like – space and
acoustic music – but also the band-based stuff with lots of
drums." Bush has spent her twelve years out of the public gaze
dividing her time between preparing the songs for ‘Aerial’ and
looking after her son, Bertie, born in 1998. "I was having to work
in really short little bursts," she says of her prolonged absence,
"and I’d never done that before. The way I’d always worked was
to just stay in the studio for fourteen hours a day. I didn’t have
that luxury to use the time in the same way. So there were lots of
periods where really nothing much was happening. But in some ways I’d
say it was very good for me to have had those kinds of restrictions. It
was continually forcing me into a situation where I had to stand back
from it."
The
musicians credit list for Bush’s eighth album reveals new
collaborations with drummers
Steve
Sanger and Peter Erskine and
percussionist Bosco
D’Oliveira, along with more
familiar names such as Gary Brooker (founder of Procol Harum,
providing Hammond organ), guitarist Dan McIntosh, drummer Stuart
Elliott (who has appeared on every one of her albums), bassists Eberhard
Weber and John Giblin and recording engineer/bassist Del
Palmer. As such, over the years, Bush has gathered around her
something resembling a close-knit musical family. "There was a
sense of being at play as well as at work," Bush notes of the
sessions for 'Aerial'. "I think that’s very important because it
is so hard and so frustrating sometimes trying to get an idea to
materialise. It’s not an easy process. I really like working with
people who are old friends, it’s lovely." Poignantly, 'Aerial'
also features some of the last work of orchestral arranger Michael
Kamen, who had scored for every Bush album since 'Hounds Of Love'
and who passed away only weeks after his contributions to the album were
completed at Abbey Road studios in October 2003. "What was great
about Michael was his stuff was very visual," says Bush. "He
did such a fantastic job. It's very hard to believe he’s not around
any more." Now, in November 2005, with the release of 'Aerial',
Kate Bush is following in the grand tradition of groundbreaking double
albums. "I used to really like the double albums I bought of
artists that I loved," she states. "It wasn’t in a way so
directly connected with you spending money on an object. It was somehow
more of an artistic statement. It said, 'Here’s my music'." Read
the full press release as posted on this site here.
2nd
October 2005: As expected, a few mentions in this morning's
UK Sunday papers. The Observer has an article entitled
"Comeback Kate" by Barbara Ellen: "We've had a sneak preview of her new album, and can assure you - it's been worth the wait... I'm allowed to listen to one side - I choose the first - so long as I sit in a room at the EMI offices with a man guarding me, presumably in case I try running home with it, thereby committing the crime of trying to listen to an album properly. Despite these shenanigans, first impressions of Aerial are as good as one hoped. It is in fact vintage Bush: a melodic, organic sprawl of wind, sea, seasons, time passing, dreams, secrecy and revelation, all mixed up with a sound that seems to segue smoothly on from The Red Shoes and The Sensual World...Joan of Arc pops up in the stunning, atmospheric
'Joanni'. Most intriguingly, there is a song called 'Bertie' where one hears a whole new Kate Bush - a mature, doting creature both energised and sucker-punched by mother love. 'Where's that son of mine?' sings Kate, adding breathlessly, 'Here comes that son of mine.'
I was ready to believe anything by the time I listened to Aerial. What I discovered is that nothing much has changed in Kate Bush's world, except perhaps everything. She's still seething with strangeness and brilliance. Even the fact that she's a mother now isn't likely to change anything. Bush has always written beautiful songs on all manner of themes including motherhood, and will doubtless continue to do so. It's just kind of cute that far from being coy and privacy-obsessed, Bush can't seem to shut up about it. As well as the song one of Bertie's drawings graces the cover of 'King of the Mountain'; he's credited on the sleevenotes as 'The Sun'."
Also in The
Observer, Carol McDaid explores what it is about Kate that
inspires such undying loyalty: "I
would never have heard about the conventions had I not subscribed to
'the oldest established Kate Bush fanzine'. Homeground (the title
borrowed from a track on Lionheart) was produced by three fans, in
monochrome on shiny pages which seethed with love for Kate. It was
illustrated with uncanny pencil sketches of her, often wreathed in ivy,
by Homeground's two resident artists, and, in the absence of any news,
there were long features entitled 'Five years ago', 'Ten years ago '. I
flinched at some of the more intense letters; the reports of 'Katemas'
30 July, Kate's birthday (the same day as Emily Bronte) - celebrated
either on Glastonbury Tor or at Top Withens, site of Bronte's Wuthering
Heights. But I didn't cancel my subscription. My first convention was at
Hammersmith Palais, November 1990, post-Sensual World; outside, a queue
of geeky guys and gothic girls hunched against a cold Saturday morning.
I went with a friend who was, like me, riven with curiosity yet anxious
to appear only mildly excited. It was a surreal, quite long day.
Wall-to-wall Kate Bush music; a quiz (Q: Who played didgeridoo on The
Dreaming? A: Rolf Harris). People fresh off the plane from Japan and
America swapped picture discs in dark corners. And Kate appeared from
somewhere - it's a bit of a blur - sitting on a sofa in grey, saying
'You must be mad!', before sweetly answering questions and singing a
little thank you. In 1993 The Red Shoes was released, and a film, The
Line, the Cross and the Curve, co-starring Miranda Richardson, which
premiered at the London Film Festival in a double bill with Nick Park's
The Wrong Trousers, which I guiltily enjoyed more. Kate, in the audience
with her partner and her father, left the cinema to rapturous applause.
I have a memory of standing on my seat to get a better look. In 1994, at
my second, and last, convention, Kate Bush rose through a hole in the
floor of the Hippodrome, Leicester Square to a deafening roar, picked
some raffle tickets out of a cardboard box, waved and fled. I can't say
I blamed her. I usually remember her birthday. And when the new Kate
Bush single received its first airplay two weeks ago, on my way to work,
I had to pull off the road."
In Scotland
On Sunday Nigel
Williamson writes: "Bush's record company, EMI, while keen not to over-hype
her return and risk disappointing fans, can barely contain their excitement, and
the buzz around the industry is that the album - entitled Aerial and due to
reach shops on November 7 - is something very special indeed. "Everyone
who's heard it so far has proclaimed it an absolute masterpiece, quite possibly
her career peak. It's quite astonishing," said one EMI executive. It's a
magnum opus of a double album, too, which is good news. King Of The Mountain
is...a gloriously dense swirl of electronic pulses, synthesised beats and
brooding guitars with a typically ominous vocal, it's as epic and elemental as
you could want...since her last album, British music has unearthed a rich seam
of pretenders to Bush's throne, including Dido, Goldfrapp, KT Tunstall and Joss
Stone. They had all better look to their laurels: the queen of them all is back
to claim her crown."
In
The
Independent On Sunday Adam
Sweeting writes:"...happily,
"King of the Mountain" is a sly and subtle piece of work, suggesting
that Bush's genre-defying musical intelligence burns undimmed."
Top
Single
& Album News Round-up
1st
October 2005: So
anyone getting excited yet? Here's a round-up of the latest news items -
mostly taken from our forum's busy Medialog
section, which you should check out. Please note for anyone who is used
to the site's usual format that all other Kate-related news,
known as "newsbits" are also being gathered and we will be
posting updates of those over the coming weeks, but for now the site
will be concentrating on bringing you the news directly relating to
Kate's new work. It's so nice to be able to say that.
It's
looking like Channel 4 will have the exclusive first play of the King
Of The Mountain video on Saturday October 15th at 10.40pm (thanks
Charles). After only a few short days King Of The Mountain has been
doing very well on the iTunes UK download chart, having rocketed
to the number 4 most downloaded track as of today. The track continues
to perform very well in Irish, Finnish and Swedish iTunes stores. EMI
publicised the wider download release, see report by Reuters here.
Kate's single remains number 1 on the Amazon
UK Hot 100 CD singles chart, outselling other upcoming new releases from
Westlife and U2...Kate was discussed on BBC Radio 4's PM
programme during the week. You can hear the show here
(Kate is featured about 40 mins into the broadcast). Generally a good
news report, although author John Mendelsson
(who wrote "Waiting For Kate Bush") dismisses most of Kate's
output. King Of The Mountain is this week's Single Of The Week on
the Ken Bruce show on BBC Radio 2. So far it seems only Rob Da Bank
has played the single on BBC Radio 1, calling it "vintage, vintage
Kate Bush". The single was one of only two new additions to the Virgin
Radio playlist
this week. Virgin
Radio playlist
this week.
 The
Guardian
has ran two pieces by Patrick Barkham. One was simply a report about the
single and album here.
The second longer article, here,
appeared on Friday 30th Sept. In it the writer talks to EMI and also
singer Roy Harper to get a more balanced look at where Kate is
now coming from: "Frustrated by her refusal to play the celebrity game, tabloids have compared her to Greta Garbo and Miss Havisham, suggesting she is obsessed with her
privacy. EMI, her record company, says suggestions she is a tortured recluse are nonsense.
"Kate's one of those artists who records and makes music to her own timescale rather than meet a record company's deadlines, which is fine by us," said an EMI insider, with no hint of gritted teeth...contrary to reports, Bush will go on television to actively promote Aerial, released on November 7 between new offerings from Robbie Williams and Madonna. Paul Rees, editor of Q magazine, believes a comparison with Madonna is instructive. Both women are 47, both have played totally by their own rules, but their careers could not be more contrasting. "There's nothing left that you don't know about Madonna whereas with Kate Bush there is everything left to know," he said. "She's retained that sense of enigma. We don't really know what has gone on in her life in the last 12 years. That's the key to her longevity. There's a lot held back."
The extraordinary voice of singer-songwriter Roy Harper was one of Bush's formative influences and he collaborated with her in the 1980s and 1990s and is still a friend. He believes Bush has been more influenced by literary writers than songwriters. "She is lovely to work with, a true musician. There is no need to tell her what to do, she has already done it and she is ahead, making suggestions. She is very honest and very gentle, bright and full of creativity, the kind of girl you should've married, really. She is very private and family orientated now. When you are that good a person, the danger is that everybody takes the piss. The cure for that is to keep yourself out of the public eye."
Those who have heard Aerial are, typically, amazed and slightly baffled, with Bush addressing a pigeon on one of the two albums, said to be inspired by bird song. Bush told Harper that one was a concept album and, "to lessen the blow" the other was "just Kate songs".
Read even more discussion on Kate in The Guardian in their Culture
Vulture blog spot here.
The
Evening Standard has
ran a review
of King Of The Mountain by John Aizlewood:"This is a reminder of what we have been missing with Kate
Bush's absence. Tori Amos, Björk and others have attempted to eclipse
Bush's otherworldliness, musicality and sheer weirdness, but none has
come close and King Of The Mountain shows why. It's a brooding epic which begins with an ominous guitar
riff before that instantly recognisable voice charges in...the allegorical lyrical mystery makes her music more
alluring. Bush was always a uniquely physical writer, but the more this
song progresses, the more she sounds buffeted by the elements atop a
frozen mountain. Gales howl around her before she concludes: "The
wind, it blows the door closed." It is not easy listening, but it
is a landmark work. I can't wait for Aerial." The Sunday Times
on the 25th Sept highlighted Kate's album as part of it's "Rich
Pickings" Autumn cultural preview: "The phease "eagerly awaited" scarcely does
justice to Kate Bush's Aerial, her first album in 12 years...still, to make up for lost time, it's a double." review
of King Of The Mountain by John Aizlewood:"This is a reminder of what we have been missing with Kate
Bush's absence. Tori Amos, Björk and others have attempted to eclipse
Bush's otherworldliness, musicality and sheer weirdness, but none has
come close and King Of The Mountain shows why. It's a brooding epic which begins with an ominous guitar
riff before that instantly recognisable voice charges in...the allegorical lyrical mystery makes her music more
alluring. Bush was always a uniquely physical writer, but the more this
song progresses, the more she sounds buffeted by the elements atop a
frozen mountain. Gales howl around her before she concludes: "The
wind, it blows the door closed." It is not easy listening, but it
is a landmark work. I can't wait for Aerial." The Sunday Times
on the 25th Sept highlighted Kate's album as part of it's "Rich
Pickings" Autumn cultural preview: "The phease "eagerly awaited" scarcely does
justice to Kate Bush's Aerial, her first album in 12 years...still, to make up for lost time, it's a double."
The Irish Times
ran an article by Jim Carroll on the 30th Sept here.
The piece examines how Kate's first release in 12 years may be received
by the music industry and the public. Also in Ireland, King Of The
Mountain was reviewed on Radio channel 2FM. Two of the panel were expecting something more
groundbreaking, one was very impressed and the presenter was keeping his 'gunpowder dry'.
It was still voted as a 'hit'...The MusicOMH site has review King
Of The Mountain here.
Michael Hubbard writes: "Fans can breathe easily - it is everything that could
have
hoped for. If before she was Running Up That Hill, now she's on top of
her mountain, surveying the scene before her with a calm, contented
gaze. A mysterious pulse of synth draws the listener in before Kate's
slurred, echo-laden vocals pipe up. Essentially nonsensical lyrics
culminate in a chorus of "the wind is whistling", but it's the
inclusion of precisely considered drums and rhythmic, almost reggae
guitar under trancey warm pad synth that make for the track's
atmosphere. And it's a heady mix.
The perfect taster for new album Aerial, King Of The
Mountain is a perfect introduction to Kate's wistful style for anyone
not familiar with her, and a timely reminder of her effortless talent to
those who are.
" The Gigwise site muses on the meaning
behind the album's artwork here.
Kate was the main feature in Joe Mott's column in The Daily Star
on Sept 30th, also wondering at the album art, see a scan
here.
The piece examines how Kate's first release in 12 years may be received
by the music industry and the public. Also in Ireland, King Of The
Mountain was reviewed on Radio channel 2FM. Two of the panel were expecting something more
groundbreaking, one was very impressed and the presenter was keeping his 'gunpowder dry'.
It was still voted as a 'hit'...The MusicOMH site has review King
Of The Mountain here.
Michael Hubbard writes: "Fans can breathe easily - it is everything that could
have
hoped for. If before she was Running Up That Hill, now she's on top of
her mountain, surveying the scene before her with a calm, contented
gaze. A mysterious pulse of synth draws the listener in before Kate's
slurred, echo-laden vocals pipe up. Essentially nonsensical lyrics
culminate in a chorus of "the wind is whistling", but it's the
inclusion of precisely considered drums and rhythmic, almost reggae
guitar under trancey warm pad synth that make for the track's
atmosphere. And it's a heady mix.
The perfect taster for new album Aerial, King Of The
Mountain is a perfect introduction to Kate's wistful style for anyone
not familiar with her, and a timely reminder of her effortless talent to
those who are." The Gigwise site muses on the meaning
behind the album's artwork here.
Kate was the main feature in Joe Mott's column in The Daily Star
on Sept 30th, also wondering at the album art, see a scan here.
The
Daily Mirror raves
about the single here.
Gavin Martin writes: "And from the atmospheric opening to its last eerie gasp,
King of the Mountain is unmistakably the sound of one of pop music's
last great originals.
..and like some sonic sorceress locked away in her private
lair Bush carries on from where she left off with The Red Shoes in
1993..but any thoughts that Bush is relishing a return to rough
and tumble of celebrity life, or is preparing to tackle the pop world on
its own terms, are cast aside by song itself. Lyrically, with an oblique
reference to Orson Welles' classic movie Citizen Kane and to Elvis
Presley, it is Kate's meditation on the perils of fame and power.
Technology has allowed her to deepen and enrich the
territory explored on her Wuthering Heights debut single back in 1978.
Long-time fans will recognise the wildly romantic and foreboding
landscape the song creates...the mood of the record is a masterful balance of opposites
- cool reserve and sonic boldness, gothic gloom and sensual awakening.
Oriental percussion, ghostly harmonies, synthesisers that whisper and
howl accompany Kate's fraught but tender vocals. Fittingly for a woman who has taken so long to make a
comeback there is no hurry to reach a climax. King of the Mountain
builds slowly and it is the entrance of a grimy low-slung offbeat reggae
guitar provides the cue for the band to slowly come together. When they do so it is like they are making music in a
dream, while wading through a field of honey... Magnificent."
The Bizarre column of The Sun newspaper on the 27th reviews the
single: "The track is suitably odd - as you'd expect from Kate, who
had a No1 with the haunting Wuthering Heights in 1978. This, out on
October 24 is equally spooky and has the air of Massive Attack. After a slow, hypnotic start it builds into a glorious
crescendo. The lyrics are so strange, its hard to work out what she's on
about."The Daily Mail reviewed the single favourably on Sept
30th. See a scan of the article here.
The Daily Express ran a very tabloidy "Kate the
recluse" type 2-page article on Sept 30th here.
Gavin Martin writes: "And from the atmospheric opening to its last eerie gasp,
King of the Mountain is unmistakably the sound of one of pop music's
last great originals.
..and like some sonic sorceress locked away in her private
lair Bush carries on from where she left off with The Red Shoes in
1993..but any thoughts that Bush is relishing a return to rough
and tumble of celebrity life, or is preparing to tackle the pop world on
its own terms, are cast aside by song itself. Lyrically, with an oblique
reference to Orson Welles' classic movie Citizen Kane and to Elvis
Presley, it is Kate's meditation on the perils of fame and power.
Technology has allowed her to deepen and enrich the
territory explored on her Wuthering Heights debut single back in 1978.
Long-time fans will recognise the wildly romantic and foreboding
landscape the song creates...the mood of the record is a masterful balance of opposites
- cool reserve and sonic boldness, gothic gloom and sensual awakening.
Oriental percussion, ghostly harmonies, synthesisers that whisper and
howl accompany Kate's fraught but tender vocals. Fittingly for a woman who has taken so long to make a
comeback there is no hurry to reach a climax. King of the Mountain
builds slowly and it is the entrance of a grimy low-slung offbeat reggae
guitar provides the cue for the band to slowly come together. When they do so it is like they are making music in a
dream, while wading through a field of honey... Magnificent."
The Bizarre column of The Sun newspaper on the 27th reviews the
single: "The track is suitably odd - as you'd expect from Kate, who
had a No1 with the haunting Wuthering Heights in 1978. This, out on
October 24 is equally spooky and has the air of Massive Attack. After a slow, hypnotic start it builds into a glorious
crescendo. The lyrics are so strange, its hard to work out what she's on
about."The Daily Mail reviewed the single favourably on Sept
30th. See a scan of the article here.
The Daily Express ran a very tabloidy "Kate the
recluse" type 2-page article on Sept 30th.
Lots of
mentions for Kate in the brochure to mark the first Bard Indie
Conference in Birmingham. An EMI spokesperson says "There is a lot of optimism within
the business compared to previous years. We have our Robbie album and a
Kate Bush album, so it's shaping up to be a really strong quarter for
us." The brochue states " King of
the Mountain is a blissfully melancholic addition to her catalogue, with
a delicate electronic production that updates her sound for 2005 without
betraying her roots." Other news in brief: King Of The Mountain
played on the KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic
show in the US...in
Germany the single is released Oct 21st and the album is released Nov
4th according to German EMI here...Japanese
EMI are releasing all Kate's albums repackaged in cardboard sleeves
(these are NOT the awaited EMI remasters)...Billy Sloan on Scotland's Radio
Clyde has played " here...Japanese
EMI are releasing all Kate's albums repackaged in cardboard sleeves
(these are NOT the awaited EMI remasters)...Billy Sloan on Scotland's Radio
Clyde has played "King Of
The Mountain by Kate Bush, the killer single from Aerial"...Best
Radio was
the first radio station to introduce Kate's new track in Greece, on
Saturday the 24th. Listener reaction was said to be overwhelmingly
positive.
King Of
The Mountain download now available on iTunes in UK & Ireland
29th Sept 2005:
EMI UK have let HomeGround know that King Of The Mountain, with Kate's
permission, is now available as a digital download to purchase from iTunes
in their UK, Ireland and most other European iTunes stores. EMI are going
to let us know where else it will be made available as soon as possible
King Of
The Mountain - US download available from Sept 27th
NEWSFLASH!
- Site visitors in the USA! The first single King Of The Mountain will be
made available by Columbia Records in the US only as a digital download on
September 27th. It will be available online at iTunes, Yahoo! Music
Unlimited, Sony Connect, Walmart.com, Rhapsody, Napster, and MSN Music.
Update: 29th Sept - download now also available on iTunes in UK &
Ireland.
 King Of
The Mountain - Weekend news round-up
24th Sept 2005:
RADIO: King Of The Mountain has received numerous plays on BBC
Radio 2 and, as hoped, even Radio 1 in the UK. Ken Bruce, who as we
know got the world exclusive first play, told listeners that he knows that
they will love it and that the song grows and grows on you after a few
listens. Jonathan Ross said "That's great! - it really grows
on you!" on his morning show on the 22nd. Steve Wright said: "Kate
Bush never ever disappoints. I've heard that 3 times lnow and I just love
it. I'm not saying that just coz I'm trying to get her on the
programme". On the evening of the 21st the song was played on Radio
4's Kaleidoscope programme - Neil McCormick, a reviewer from the
Daily Telegraph, was underwhelmed by the single saying that it was an odd
record, a poor single choice and that "it would need to be pop
symphony in 3 octaves to please fans." He did praise Kate's voice
however saying that she'd "obviously looked after it". On the
22nd Rob Da Bank on Radio 1 ran a Listener's Choice text poll
between the latest releases from Kate and Paul MCartney, Kate won and it
got its Radio 1 airplay debut - with a lot of positive feedback from
listeners (listen here
- about one hour into the show). The single has also been played on Radio
2 by Johnnie Walker, Sarah Kennedy, Janice Long and
of course Mark Radcliffe - all gushing about how much they like it.
Listeners have been posting their reviews on the BBC Radio 2 message board
here.
The new
single appeared on BBC Radio 6's venerable review programme
Roundtable
with David Quantick giving it a 9 out of 10, a member of the
public on the phone giving it a 7, but two other reviewers weren't Kate
fans at all so they gave it a 4 and a 3! (to be fair they only seemed to
know about Wuthering Heights era Kate). Quantick is the presenter of the
Radio 2 Blagger's Guide programme which featured an hilarious (and
highly complimentary) parody of Kate's career. We particularly enjoyed hearing a young Kate being scolded by her
headmistress, and an older Kate accepting an award by sending her speech
via enchanted bluebird!. Want to hear a much clearer broadcast of the
single? Dutch radio have a less compressed stream here
(the song is about 42 mins in).
PRESS:
The Manchester
Evening News has given the single 4 out of 5 stars. Mark Richardson writes: "After
a 12-year absence Kate Bush is set to return to the airwaves with a new
album, Ariel - and the first single will not disappoint her many fans. In
these days of X Factor and Pop Idol it is almost a surprise to hear an
artist construct a sound that is casually littered with musical ability.
Ever since her breathe-taking debut release Wuthering Heights, Kate Bush
has consistently brought a fresh approach to her music, blending styles
and technology to produce a unique sound. Her latest single King Of The
Mountain makes it clear that she has lost none of this ability. While King
Of The Mountain is not ground breaking, it does offer all the dynamics
that are integral to the Kate Bush sound, from unstructured electronics,
to driving rhythm and soaring vocals. Welcome back, Kate." Marc Lee in The
Daily Telegraph also praises the
track: "King of the Mountain had its first public airing yesterday on
Radio 2...the song is vintage Bush, the operatic swoops and ethereal,
vaguely troubled ambience as haunting as ever. Opening with a gently
hypnotic rhythm track, chugging guitars, and blurry vocals, the song
builds to a big, rocking finish, as Bush wonders at "the wind
whistling through the house". After more than a decade, what is
striking is how little has changed in the Bush soundworld. She could
almost be back on the storm-lashed moors pining for Heathcliff."
Stephen McKenna write's for ICScotland:
"It sounds really fresh. Opening with some delightful percussive
synth noises, Kate's idiosyncratic voice comes through and the whole track
feels very atmospheric and nonchalant. The song still has the inimitable
Kate Bush sound about it but is a little more modern than material from
her 1993 album The Red Shoes."
In the US, of huge
significance considering its enormous readership is the feature in the
brand new Entertainment Weekly (Sept. 30). It has listed Aerial at
Number 3 in its 20 "Albums We're Most Looking Forward To This
Fall" The blurb says: "The bewitching British chanteuse returns
from the world's longest maternity leave with her first album in 12 years.
A leadoff single - the beautifully whoosy "King of the Mountain"
debuts onl |
