The first by Will Hodgkinson dated May 13 gives three stars:

“Even the world’s greatest musicians get short shrift when they don’t deliver the goods. In 1988 nobody was kind about Down in the Groove just because Bob Dylan had made it. Kate Bush, however, is No 1 in a field of one: artists who can do pretty much anything and still be praised unreservedly …. that’s the general mood of Director’s Cut: interesting, but not easy to lose yourself in. Bush is currently hard at work on a new album. It could be that this was a stopgap, an itch that had to be scratched, before she could move on.”

The second by Will Hodgkinson dated May 14 gives three stars:

“A new album by Kate Bush is always worth celebrating. But even the most ardent Bush fans — and there are plenty of us — are left slightly flummoxed by her latest move …. Some songs have been re-recorded entirely, others merely tinkered with: a bit of reverb here, some editing there … It’s worth pointing out that every song on Director’s Cut is infused with the kind of sophistication and fusion of feeling and imagination that has made Bush so revered. What’s more dubious is the idea behind the project itself: to bring production changes to songs that are already fully realised. Bush is working hard on a new album proper — Director’s Cut really sounds like it was made to clear a case of writer’s block and let Bush move on.”

The third by Dan Cairns dated May 15 gives four stars:

“Ahead of a promised new album, and six years on from her most recent, the sprawling and engrossing Aerial, Kate Bush throws a curve ball … To listen to moments such as these, and to the emotional intensity she locates in her reworking of, say, Never Be Mine, is to be reminded that this extraordinary artist is without equal.”

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