by Geno Thackara
She started her career with a surprise hit based on an Emily Brontë novel. She plays the piano but could be just as likely to add some violin, bozouki, uilleann pipes or didgeridoo. Kate Bush has never shied away from following her own path, quirky as it is, whether it meant experimenting with all kinds of offbeat ideas or disappearing from the music world entirely for more than a decade.
A gap that long could have easily built up enough anticipation to be fatal – call it the Chinese Democracy rule if you like – but for me at least, getting to know Aerial felt more like catching up with a good friend after you’ve spent a while living in different places. Of course there are still some quirks as always (she sings several dozen digits of pi for one example), but it’s not so obviously weird that you couldn’t play it at dinner… well, usually not. The first disc (charmingly titled A Sea of Honey) does have a medieval-sounding love song and an unsettlingly fervent passage about a washing machine. On the more accessible side, it’s bookended by a gorgeous understated opener and a finale as emotionally direct and powerful as anything she’s ever done.
On top of that, however, disc two (A Sky of Honey) is the part that’s simply enchanting. Here she strings all the pieces together into one continuous whole – an idea that was becoming more unfashionable than ever as the iTunes age took off, but of course Bush couldn’t care less about that. The big idea? A summer day set to music. The songs describe a lovely time strolling and simply enjoying the outdoors, quiet down after a while to paint a picture of the dusk, describe swimming in the ocean under the stars, then brighten up while waiting for the next sunrise. The words are full of imagery about the sun, sky and nature, also tied together with fitting sounds, such the recurring bird song whose soundwave appears on the cover.
Like any Kate Bush album Aerial is a lot to take in, but that’s the beauty of being patient and letting it grow on you. An artist like this wouldn’t come back after twelve years if she didn’t have a whole lot to share.
