Musical movements have waxed and waned, former peers wasted away, but somehow Kate Bush has endured. In fact, in the 12 years since her last album release, she has become more influential than ever, as memories of the leotard-clad teenage warbler from the early 1980s have faded, to be replaced by a genuine appreciation of her musical talents.
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.
Significantly, Bush crosses gender taste barriers with an ease that the likes of Alanis Morissette and Dido do not. Her music has already enjoyed a mini-comeback this year, thanks to the Futureheads, whose spiky cover version of her 1985 classic Hounds of Love performed better in the charts than her original. Meanwhile, Coldplay admitted they were “trying to recreate” Bush’s 1985 hit Running Up That Hill for their own recent chart-topper, Speed of Sound.
Even the most macho performers see her as a rule-breaking maverick. The rapper Tricky, notorious for recording with gangsters, considers Bush a genius on a par with the Beatles, while the former Sex Pistol John Lydon has called her “f****** brilliant” and “a true original”.
Bush’s eclectic musical agenda has also helped to sustain her fanbase over the years. Few artists have worked with such a diverse army of collaborators, from Eric Clapton to Nigel Kennedy, from Prince to Peter Gabriel, from Bulgarian choirs to Rolf Harris.
Of course, the question remains whether Bush’s army of acolytes will help to make Aerial a hit. After 12 years of silence and secrecy, can Bush sound as wondrous and amazing as the mystique surrounding her? Many of her famous fans seem to think so.
ALISON GOLDFRAPP
Electro-stomp princess
“When I was growing up Kate Bush was the one. All the boys fancied her at school, all the hippies smoked bongs and listened to her music. I got into her a little later. I think she’s a genius. I love her because she is nothing to do with fashion, she is so self-contained. My favourite album is Hounds of Love, it’s the ultimate concept album. I took a lot of drugs listening to that album, E mainly. So much so that when I listen to it now I can start to feel sick very quickly.”
BJÖRK
Fellow vocal and sartorial adventurer
“There were so many records in my parents’ house, so I saw a lot of album covers. I thought they were all macho and occupied with power, things I didn’t like. I guess that’s what I found fascinating about Kate, she stuck out. She created her own look and produced her own sound.”
ROY HARPER
Grumpy folkie and Bush collaborator
“She was such a precocious talent, she arrived ready-made. With her voice going to such incredible heights, she was immediately a standout. We were recording at Abbey Road at the time, and as soon as I heard her I knew I had a piece I’d love her to sing. We put feelers out and she came back within five minutes. Then I found out that her brothers had been into me for all of her childhood, so she came super quick. You get the sense when you meet her that she is the real thing. She’s a million miles away from Charlotte Church, who is a classically trained female singer of no small ability. But Kate has a lot more than that in terms of artistic integrity. She is an artist in the deepest sense.”
ALEXANDER BALANESCU
Eponymous founder of string quartet
“I met Kate Bush through Michael Nyman, who was asked to do some string arrangements for her. I was very excited about the prospect of working with Kate as I knew and loved all her records. Kate is indeed a perfectionist but in an unerringly musically intelligent way, and with an infectious, positive enthusiasm. I was amazed by her ability to hear tiny details, seeking not only technical perfection but also the right spirit for a particular piece.
“I think Kate Bush’s work transcends musical borders. Of course it’s a kind of pop music, but a music with lots of layers, holding the attention for many repeated hearings. Also, I have always found her use of her extraordinary voice very interesting. She seems to use it as an instrument, always seeking to expand its possibilities.”
BARRY HYDE
Singer with the Futureheads
“She is totally underrated as an arranger and singer. Some of her songs are perfectly arranged and quite complicated. She makes great pop songs with excellent production. And we were all born in the early 1980s, so Kate Bush was around all of us to a varying degree.”
KELE OKEREKE
Singer with indie rockers Bloc Party
“I only discovered Kate Bush two years ago. I was staying at a friend’s house in Spain while he was away, and all he had in his collecton were Prince and Kate Bush records. I listened to all her albums from start to finish and was completely transfixed, amazed by their theatrical intensity, their sense of story and attention to detail. These artists were able to sculpt their decisions without having to run them past people. They were able to do what they wanted.”
BIG BOI
Half of hip-hop pioneers OutKast
“My uncle introduced me to Kate Bush when I was about 14 years old, and that opened my mind up. She was so bugged out, man! But I felt what she was talking about in the songs. My uncle would explain what the song stood for. Like The Man With the Child in His Eyes and all that shit. I would be like, ‘Wow! She’s so f*****’ deep!’ I was infatuated with her, man. Still am, and hopefully on the next record you’re gonna hear OutKast and Kate Bush do at least two or three songs. I gotta track her down! I just found out she was producing all that shit herself, man! She’s so f*****’ dope and so underrated and off the radar.”
DIDO
Classically named global megastar
“When I was 13, I got a record player for Christmas, so I went out and bought Hounds of Love by Kate Bush and Diamond Life by Sade, which both remain absolute classics. Those are two women who have the right idea: they have a life, they have great careers, and they make records when they want to make records.”
TRICKY
Trip-hop pioneer
“I don’t believe in God, but if I did, her music would be my bible. Her music sounds religious to me. She should be treasured more in this country than the Beatles. That she isn’t is probably down to her own personality, because she can — and does — walk away from everything, and not make albums, and I respect her for that. Just to live your life and not play the game — to me, that’s success.”
DAVE GILMOUR
Pink Floyd guitarist who “found” Bush
“As a teenager, Kate couldn’t be ignored. She was obviously, to me, a great talent and it would have been criminal of me to have ignored her. Having said that, she would have made it anyway, one way or another. After her success I was inundated with tapes of girl singers. But when I listened to them, I never heard another Kate.”
Aerial is out on Nov 7. The first single from the album, King of the Mountain, is out on Monday
