Aerial (2CD) (Digi-Pak)
Key item features
On a female singer/songwriter musical landscape that includes divas like Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco and Fiona Apple, it's nice to receive a little message once in a while from the original piano enchantress, Kate Bush. Think of her as England's answer to Joni Mitchell or Yoko Ono: a true artist devoted to her own vision, critics be damned!
There's something about the quirky keyboard sound that opens her first album in 12 years that announces, she's baaack... Never a routine exercise, a Bush album release is an event and Aerial, a two-disc, two suite set, is no exception.
She starts with "King of the Mountain," a song that proclaims her well-known anxiety about the celebrity spotlight. "Pi" (the math symbol) is a singing recitation of the number, literally, as well as a lyrical exploration of one man's devotion to calculation. The way Bush wraps her voice around words as basic as numbers is magical in a way that only she could pull off.
"Bertie" is a little strings and harpsichord folk song about her son that sounds like it could've been sung in a parlor in Elizabethan times. "Mrs. Bartolozzi" is from the viewpoint of a woman cleaning, a sort of lyrical obsession of Bush's, which also serves as a meditation on the loss of a loved one. Bush's songs are like visions in which her characters pass through like ghosts.
"How To Be Invisible" has a more traditional rock vibe than the more operatic pieces; like "King of the Mountain," it takes on Bush's aversion to public life. "Joanni" is a tribute to Joan of Arc. "A Coral Room" is a remembrance of olden days, specifically, her mother.
It's necessary to switch to disc two for the album's second half. The sound of cooing pigeons and a child's voice add to the homey intimacy at the top. The songs are arranged as "Prelude" and "Prologue" and in title and sound they lend an anticipatory feeling to the suite that is overall titled "A Sky of Honey." Just the name itself conjures a kind of sweetness that Bush has a rare gift for exploring. By the third track, "An Architect's Dream," you feel as if you're on a journey, moving toward something. In much the same way the German electronic band Kraftwerk used their keyboards to imitate the sound of a world in motion, Bush has trained her instrument to create the sounds of an environment that is fully awake and alive.
"The Painter's Link" as interpreted by Rolf Harris runs into the multi-faceted "Sunset." Moving through one day, by the time the sun goes down, the mood is positively celebratory. Birdsongs join the fray and for "Somewhere In Between," Bush even trades some vocals with them. "Nocturn" has a bit of a groove to it and "Aerial," the final trance-dance closing track, demonstrates Bush's ability to tap into the here and now. You can already hear the techno remixes in the works.
Supported throughout by a full band and chamber music players, Bush is also joined by Michael Kamen who conceived the orchestral arrangements for the London Metropolitan Orchestra, and a couple of highly experienced vocalists on back up: Lol Creme of 10 cc and Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, the latter also sitting in on Hammond organ.
Oh if only we could have Bush making records all the time, the world would be a much gentler and sweeter place. But then, each and every album wouldn't be nearly as special of an event as Aerial. Enjoy her while she's here.
By Danielle Santiago
Specs
- PerformerKate Bush
- Music genreAlternative, Rock
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Product details
On a female singer/songwriter musical landscape that includes divas like Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco and Fiona Apple, it's nice to receive a little message once in a while from the original piano enchantress, Kate Bush. Think of her as England's answer to Joni Mitchell or Yoko Ono: a true artist devoted to her own vision, critics be damned!
There's something about the quirky keyboard sound that opens her first album in 12 years that announces, she's baaack... Never a routine exercise, a Bush album release is an event and Aerial, a two-disc, two suite set, is no exception.
She starts with "King of the Mountain," a song that proclaims her well-known anxiety about the celebrity spotlight. "Pi" (the math symbol) is a singing recitation of the number, literally, as well as a lyrical exploration of one man's devotion to calculation. The way Bush wraps her voice around words as basic as numbers is magical in a way that only she could pull off.
"Bertie" is a little strings and harpsichord folk song about her son that sounds like it could've been sung in a parlor in Elizabethan times. "Mrs. Bartolozzi" is from the viewpoint of a woman cleaning, a sort of lyrical obsession of Bush's, which also serves as a meditation on the loss of a loved one. Bush's songs are like visions in which her characters pass through like ghosts.
"How To Be Invisible" has a more traditional rock vibe than the more operatic pieces; like "King of the Mountain," it takes on Bush's aversion to public life. "Joanni" is a tribute to Joan of Arc. "A Coral Room" is a remembrance of olden days, specifically, her mother.
It's necessary to switch to disc two for the album's second half. The sound of cooing pigeons and a child's voice add to the homey intimacy at the top. The songs are arranged as "Prelude" and "Prologue" and in title and sound they lend an anticipatory feeling to the suite that is overall titled "A Sky of Honey." Just the name itself conjures a kind of sweetness that Bush has a rare gift for exploring. By the third track, "An Architect's Dream," you feel as if you're on a journey, moving toward something. In much the same way the German electronic band Kraftwerk used their keyboards to imitate the sound of a world in motion, Bush has trained her instrument to create the sounds of an environment that is fully awake and alive.
"The Painter's Link" as interpreted by Rolf Harris runs into the multi-faceted "Sunset." Moving through one day, by the time the sun goes down, the mood is positively celebratory. Birdsongs join the fray and for "Somewhere In Between," Bush even trades some vocals with them. "Nocturn" has a bit of a groove to it and "Aerial," the final trance-dance closing track, demonstrates Bush's ability to tap into the here and now. You can already hear the techno remixes in the works.
Supported throughout by a full band and chamber music players, Bush is also joined by Michael Kamen who conceived the orchestral arrangements for the London Metropolitan Orchestra, and a couple of highly experienced vocalists on back up: Lol Creme of 10 cc and Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, the latter also sitting in on Hammond organ.
Oh if only we could have Bush making records all the time, the world would be a much gentler and sweeter place. But then, each and every album wouldn't be nearly as special of an event as Aerial. Enjoy her while she's here.
By Danielle Santiago
