Lovely interview. Listen to Jamie Cullum talk to Kate here. The full interview is on BBC Radio 2 December 6th 7pm GMT
Category: Interviews Page 2 of 5
In the Irish Independent Kate speaks exclusively to Eamon Sweeney “about her 10th studio album, Stephen Fry, Elton John, Mná Na hÉireann and giving Ireland a big kiss”
Freelance writer Alison Stewart telephone interview with Kate appears in today’s Washington Post:
“In the ’70s and ’80s Bush released a series of dreamy, sexy art-folk albums credited with influencing PJ Harvey, Fiona Apple, Bjork and just about any significant female artist of the past 30 years. She was tough, uncompromising and fiercely private, though never what anyone would call prolific. Bush has released only 10 studio albums in three decades, two of them in 2011: “Director’s Cut,” which features re-recorded and re-invented versions of her classic songs, and the new “50 Words for Snow,” a strange and beautiful disc of thematically linked songs about winter. Bush lives in the English countryside with her husband and her 13-year-old son, Bertie, an occasional contributor to her albums. On the phone from home, she’s funny and solicitous and sweet, more like the British equivalent of a soccer mom than a Bronte character come to life …“
Andy Gill, whom we remember from the inkie era way back when, interviews Kate for the Independent:
“I have a theory that there are still parts of our mental worlds that are still based around the age of between five and eight, and we just kind of pretend to be grown-up,” she explains. “I think our essence is there in a much more powerful way when we’re children, and if you’re lucky enough to be treated reasonably well, and can hang onto who you are, you do have that at your core for the rest of your life. I guess that’s what I meant, really: it’s not that I actually think of myself as a little girl, but she is right in my core.”
Andy Gill also gives the album a five star review:
“the individual tracks seeming to coalesce gently, like snow gathering in drifts: most consist of simple, unhurried piano parts, underscored by ambient synth pads, strings, and occasionally a touch of jazzy reeds, or Oriental-sounding twang. The result is a lush, immersive work which is sonically more homogeneous than her earlier albums, reflecting the conceptual solidity of its wintry theme, in which fantastical, mythic narratives are allowed to take shape under the cover of its snowy blanket…”
FURTHER UPDATE: 6 Music has now tweeted that the interview will be broadcast “a week today” i.e. Thursday 24th November. The Morning Show is on between 10.00 am and 13.00 pm GMT and will doubtless be available as a stream afterwards from the 6 Music website.
UPDATE: As you were. Laura was off to interview Kate this morning, and the interview looks likely to appear on Radio 6 at a later date. We’ll let you know when
Lauren Laverne, host of 6 Music’s morning show has tweeted that she will “be round Kate Bush’s for a cup of tea and a chat” on Thursday morning.
A quick round up of other bits and pieces courtesy of Louise on the site forum: The album will be reviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Review programme on Saturday 19th November at 19.15 GMT…preview of new interview by Joachim Hentschel at Rolling Stone Germany…new interview in Humo Magazine Belgium…MusikExpress Part 6 series feature (though not exclusively about 50 Words)…Kate Bush Netherlands fan club review…Focus Knack Belgium Review…the full album is now streaming via EMI Music Ireland at the Irish Times…it’s also streaming via NYT Finland and EMI Belgium at De Standaard…
John Wilson has confirmed that the interview with Kate will be broadcast as part of the Front Row programme on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 22nd November at 7.15 pm. We can also confirm that this was a face-to-face interview (thanks to A Rose Growing Old)
Kate will appear on Q (CBC Radio in Canada) with Jian Ghomeshi on Tuesday, November 22 for a one-hour feature interview, in which she discusses 50 Words for Snow and reflects on her career from The Kick Inside through to today. Kate will talk about her relationship with the media throughout her career, the approach she’s taken to songwriting, the significance of drama, dance and video in her art, and her future in music and on the road. Listeners in Canada can tune in to CBC Radio One at 10 a.m. in each time zone across the country (or stream it). Listeners in several major cities in the USA can tune in on their local public radio stations via Public Radio International (PRI). Local listings can be found here. Listeners across North America can listen on Sirius Satellite 159 at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET. Anyone who missed the broadcast can listen to Q: The Podcast (interview only, no music cuts) by downloading it Tuesday afternoon on iTunes OR stream the entire show (mixed in all its glory) from the Q website. Thanks to Brian Coulton at Q for the information.
UPDATE: The full interview from the programme is streaming here or download as an MP3 here.
The World programme on California’s KCRW has an interview with Kate live on air tonight – click here. (9pm UK/Ireland, 1pm California, USA) Also here’s a blog post by someone involved including a snippet that won’t be aired! (thanks Louise)
Read more about this new Dutch interview with Kate to promote 50 Words For Snow in The Netherlands at the magazine’s site here. (scan from OOR website)
The BBC have announced that Radio 2 will broadcast an interview with Kate at 7.00 pm on 6th December. The interview has been conducted by Jamie Cullum the Radio 2 presenter and multi-platinum pop-jazz singer-songwriter, and they will talk about the complex time signatures within Misty and their mutual love of Billie Holliday and Steely Dan.
The subscriber’s edition of the December The Word is now out. The retail edition will be in the shops by the end of this week. The magazine has this wonderful cover featuring another new photo of Kate, an in-depth interview “The Mystery Dance” by Dorian Lynskey running over no less than five pages, and a full and very enthusiastic review of the album:
“Frozen precipitaion is merely the starting point … sonically a wintry companion to Aerial … It lifts your heart and transforms your soul … as surprising and individual as ever here …”
Look out for the next edition of Mojo magazine. It should be out as early as next week. It will feature a brand new interview with Kate about 50 Words For Snow and the first actual review of the album! More at the Mojo website here.
EDIT: The review awards 50 Words for Snow four stars. Thanks to DecemberWillBeMagic, SkyVibes and Ian.
“At 53 the thrill of seeing the world transformed by a pearlescent icy blanket is not only intact; it’s the Narnian portal through which 50 Words for Snow beckons us …”
UPDATE: The review is illustrated with the following art by Lisa Evans. (Read more at her blog here.)
“To stick around for the conclusion is to realise that the spiritual source of these songs comes from a deeper place. ‘I can see angels around you’ she sings … sounding as delerious with love as only she can.”
“I’m in a very creative space, (Director’s Cut) kind of gave me a bit of confidence which always helps you to move forward, and it’s been received very warmly by people which is very nice, because you never know….”
Update: Apologies for the cobbled together news flash on this earlier, I was away from my computer and not fully used to making updates on my new “smart” phone! This was an unexpected interview promoting Director’s Cut which was announced by Kate’s official site this afternoon. Lovely as always to hear Kate talk about her work, and a surprise to realise that we are still, in some ways, in the midst of the promotional push for Director’s Cut! So great that the positive reaction to Director’s Cut has fired her up in her current work. You can hear the full interview at the NPR website here. Kate is chatting to David Dye on the World Cafe programme. David had also previously interviewed Kate for the release of The Red Shoes.