Kate Bush Album: “Aerial”

When I was 17, my now sister-in-law let me borrow Kate Bush's "The Whole Story", which kicked off what has no been a nearly eleven year love affair with Bush's music. Through virtually this entire time, I've heard the seemingly endless rumors about the new album being "worked on". As one would expect, eventually I pretty much gave up hope.

Imagine my surprise when a release date for "Aerial" was announced, a double CD, to be released just over twelve years after 1993's "The Red Shoes". And of course, you can imagine the level of anticipation in myself and probably every other Kate Bush fan out there.

The double album runs only a hair over eighty minutes long, but is split more conceptually-- the first disc, titled "A Sea of Honey", is a collection of unrelated songs. The second, titled "A Sky of Honey", is a reflection on the passage of a day.

Certainly the material on the first disc covers a lot of ground-- Bush seems to pretty much pick up where she left off, although her arrangements show a downright stunning depth as instruments swirl in and out of the mix. Opener and leadoff single "King of the Mountain" is a good example both of this and of the best sort of Kate Bush pop song-- it opens with electronic percussion and synths and eventually live drums joining to create a mid-tempo loping beat until the second verse where an electric guitar shows up and take the focus. Over all of this, Bush sings passionately about man becoming a myth, overt references to Elvis Presley and "Citizen Kane" throughout. The remainder of the disc proves amazingly diverse, treading through a harpsichord-driven ballad about her son (the achingly sentimental "Bertie"-- Bush pulls off expression of parental love better than anyone I've heard with her recitation of "you bring me such joy"), a driven, passionate piano piece about a house cleaner ("Mrs. Bartolozzi"), a funky pop song ("How to Be Invisible") and a lovely, subdued piano ballad ("A Coral Room"), among others. That it maintains a high level of quality throughout is a testament to its creator.

The second disc is definitely feels like a suite-- the music is all very relaxed, with rolling piano lines, lush strings, and hand drums playing in and out. The piece is constructed with several songs and some briefer tracks that establish continuity of the pieces, and while musically it's less diverse than the first disc, there are no fewer powerful moments from the delicate chords and wide-eyed (the latter by Bush's son Bertie) on the opening "Prelude" to the utterly superb "Sunset", which opens as a jazz-tinged ballad before moving into a frantic Spanish guitar section complete with castinets to the simply fantastic "Somewhere in Between".

The only thing this album is missing, truthfully, is that one piece that trumps them all-- there's nothing as immense as "This Woman's Work" or "The Infant Kiss" that stops you in your tracks, but even without that, the album is consistently of high quality and truthfully was worth the endless wait. Highly recommended.

I have to admit it took me a while to really understand this album. It's so complex... and beautiful, really. At first listen there were a few songs that hit me right off, the evocative and sad Coral Room, Sunset, Bertie (a love song to her son), the throbbing Pi, How to be Invisible (which is a lot like the old Kate) a few others, but it's only after you've really listened to the whole package, with headphones, without distractions, do you really appreciate the labor of love that this record represents. She's going in some new directions -- more jazzy, more subtle. Some reviewers complained that this isn't the old Kate. Well, the old Kate grew up, had a child, and because she sings from her heart, of course her subject matter is going to be different. She's a much more mature artist. This has got to be album of the year. Oh, and the design of the package is amazing too. All I can say is wow.

It has been painful waiting for Kate Bush for 12 years but now it's over, she's back with this piece of art, no doubt the album of the year, the album of the century (until she comes out with a new one). A double CD set with a beautiful and inventive album cover that makes you wonder what this fascinating woman was thinking when creating it. The songs translate the Kate Bush woman, mother and person, songs that could just be written by Kate Bush and no one else. Try the beautiful and emotive "A Coral Room" first what would be enough for you to fall in love with this wonderful album, this fascinating artist that Kate Bush is. Thank you Kate for coming back to us. Amazing!

All right. I'm not going to make any bones about this: I'm a Kate Bush fan, through and through. I'm not sure that any other artist has touched me in such a real way throughout my life, and by that I mean: Kate Bush has a way of touching emotional buttons that, if they have been planted in you by similar experiences or exposure to wonder, will be set off. Thankfully, I grew up with all of Kate's albums, and so my anticipation for 'Aerial' was one of delicious trepidation. Would Kate live up to former experiences of bizarre song themes, vocal histrionics, sexual confidence, and sheer English/Kateness?

The answer is: Yes. A thousand times, yes. I have noticed that there are some naysayers on Amazon who have charged 'Aerial' with being boring, and Lord knows why. Perhaps it is 'Aerial''s use of the piano, which can be quiet, contemplative, and yes, Kate brings us to those moments here. But what I hear on the new CD is a reminder of just how influential her piano-driven early work has been (move over, Ms. Amos! The Queen is BACK). Take, for instance, 'Mrs. Bartolozzi,' a song that on its sheer superficial surface is about doing the laundry, but which Kate sends into another realm entirely with the sensual imagry of lovers present, lovers gone, lovers hanging on the washing line, looking so alive...This is a mature song, full of wisdom, and typifies the glorious journey Kate Bush has been on all these years.

Songs about her son; songs about the mathemetician obsessed with calculating Pi; songs about her mother; a cycle of songs devoted to the passing day (Disc 2, 'A Sky or Honey'). Look, honest emotion and artistic integrity in mainstream artists is hard to come by; but when Kate decided to make her return, she obviously took pains to make an integrated, complete work. I can't think of another artist even remotely capable of singing "...climb into bed and turn to rust," a gorgeous metaphor for the ending of day, as well as the end of life's most passionate moments.

I can't think of anyone but Kate Bush even attempting a song about the discoverer of Pi, or who could weave a spell for privacy ("How to be Invisible"), or who could sing with birds (AND do so in homage of Indian rhythm: "Aerial Tal"). Way back on her hugely experimental, legendary 'difficult' album 'The Dreaming,' Kate imitated the call of birdsong on 'Night of the Swallow'; here, she goes far, far beyond that mimicry, singing with, and laughing with, birdsong: until she has to get "up on the roof" -- and then she's gone, in one of the most breathtaking climaxes to any CD from the last decade, maybe two decades.

Why is she so successful? Because of a life lived; because many musical artists have forgotten the value of an album being an artistic statement in today's "download the single" world of iPod listening; and because very few musicians have the guts to have built such an autonomous, mysterious image in pop music as Kate has. This album works because Kate is Kate: and if you knew her years ago, you will find resonance and fulfillment here with 'Aerial.'

Did my eyes fill with tears with the song to her son, "Bertie"? Yes. And did I dance to the double whammy of "Nocturn" and "Aerial"? Yes! Thanks, Kate, for your honesty and joy; your progressive musical statements: your love of tradition, and your original voice. 'Aerial' is a masterpiece.

It was a long, long, looong wait, but here comes another 10-er.

That unique vocal cadence and range that hypnotizes and sends chills up the spine is back in full force, along with the perfectionism that everything be "just right" with the instruments you are hearing.

Both fans and curious newcomers will not be disappointed with these lovingly crafted and intelligent soundscapes of feeling, intuition, thought and sensation.

Any disappointments? Nope, not really. Is it complex and deep and will it take you some time to get into the psyche of this music? Yep, and that's a good thing - no mushy 'Pabulum' and one-night stands here! Why is the "outside" called 'Aerial' and the "inside" called 'A Sea of Honey?' Put your thinking/feeling caps on and enjoy!