Aerial - Kate Bush Album Review

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Album Review

For the past 12 years Kate Bush has done a good job on how to be invisible.

Reclusive, hardly anyone ever sees her in her home town. Rearing son Bertie (he gets a simple poetic mention on track 2 also getting to show his artwork on the booklet) and domesticity took high priority. Music went on the back burner for well over a decade. As single King Of The Mountain, slips from 4 to 8 (week commencing Nov 7) the album gets a release on the same date. Much has been said about her protracted hiatus, though Kate has always done things her way and got away with it in the industry. Aerial, a bumper 16 tracker, split into two parts - A Sea Of Honey and Sky Of Honey would have made an excellent single album. Like so many who try to be clever (Fleetwood Mac's Tusk a prime example) she's un-necessarily overloaded our senses for the sake of absence. Kate is well known for being quirky and clever. This time she's been too clever. Immediately, you'll recognise a big change in the voice. Much of her trademark wailing has gone: for good it would appear. Combine this with a tad too much self-indulgence, it brings mixed results.

Single 'King Of The Mountain' is a fabulous opener, and then Pi, nothing more than album filler, takes the shine off things very quickly. At this point I'd switched off, for a while at least. Interest re-emerged later as I swam through a tedious 'washing machine' 'washing machine' Mrs. Bartolozzi.

Quickly sharpening her flippers, 'Invisible' breaks through the waves of the Sea Of Honey. By now I'm wondering why the thematic approach? There's no obvious connection of ideas.

Joanni, musically anyway, fits the theme as the strings ebb and flow beautifully - Kate's now on form and it's wonderful, only to be cursed by some angrily peculiar noises. Ending CD 1, Kate retires to The Coral Room, a chilled floater with a simple keys and vocal, with a cultured vocal contribution by Michael Wood - stunning.

Singing birds open CD 2 with spoken word from a child (Bertie?) on a brief Prelude which leads to a longer Prologue.... so we're up in the sky at last.

The Architect, featuring spoken intro by Rolf Harris has delightful 'Kate moments', while segued 1 min 35 sec The Painter's Link serves no purpose other than a 'link'. The clouds break after a bleak spell as Sunset shines through. Here Kate delicately tinkles the ivories, upright bass flutters and brushes go into the slipstream- this is Kate at her best: it's in short supply. Unexpectedly, in the latter quarter, Sunset bursts into a pulsating Latino blast - incredible - I want more. Now we're really flying high, as we hit the huge expanse of new R'n'B influenced Somewhere In Between, a lush saunter that glides on the thermals of her mercurial singing, only to encounter a cold spot on the 8 minutes of Nocturn. Title track Aerial is a romp with Pink Floyd style guitar, laughing (Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon' calls), more birds, though she seems to have plunged back into the 'sea' ending with a damp squib.

With all this honey, Kate may find things a bit sticky because there's little here to bring a massive hit single. It probably wasn't meant to have one.

That's our Kate.

Elly Roberts