Arwa Haider writes in the UK Metro paper today: “…still radiating sexy mystique, Kate Bush has suddenly hit a prolific purple patch…these are adventurous, multi-layered works you can really sink into…with instrumentation merging classical choruses, sweetly mournful piano and electronics, this album is an eccentric thing of beauty…” (This review also appeared this morning in their sister paper, the Dublin Metro Herald)
Just added to the 50 Words For Snow gallery at Kate’s site here. We’re really looking forward to seeing the upcoming visual pieces that these shots relate to.
Lip is an Australian feminist site for Girls. I found the perspective of this review by Angelique Lu quite interesting :
“Even if you haven’t heard of Kate Bush, there’s a good chance that your parents are fans (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing) … The first thing you notice about this album is that it is long. Only seven tracks feature on 50 Words for Snow, and yet each song is a lengthy endeavour, creating the type of unique atmospheric record Kate Bush is so famous for. The album is one made by a woman who is in no hurry. 50 Words for Snow was recorded during the English winter, and it shows. It’s a minimalist album. It’s mature too … For hardcore fans, Kate Bush’s new album delivers. For those who are new to her music, it requires patience and perseverance. Her imaginary world, and the sheer length of the songs on the track may alienate those who are looking for songs that they’ll immediately connect with. Kate Bush is from a different era, where concept albums are the norm, and where single tracks were relatively unheard of. The risk with concept albums, like 50 Words for Snow is that there is a danger that all of the songs might begin to sound the same.”
Another five stars from Simon Price in the Independent (on Sunday):
“to the relief of anyone who carries a torch for the reclusive genius, it’s a beauty. Formed of just seven songs, albeit ones of considerable length, its themes and tales all relate in some way to snow. Its sound is mimetic of the white stuff: specifically the kind of snow that arrives unannounced and settles gently in the night, rather than a dramatic, howling blizzard … The album reaches a peak with “Snowed in at Wheeler Street”, a duet with Elton John which seems to postulate a belief in reincarnation … with “Among Angels”, we’re back to that delicate, hesitant piano, and she melts away again, just like the snowman on her sheets.“
A lengthy appreciation of 50 Words from Debi Withers (author of Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory) at the feminist website The F-Word:
“Kate Bush does not only create music, she creates the world. 50 Words for Snowis one of the many sonic multiverses Bush has imagined over an illustrious 33 year career that has seen her experiment, mutate, delight, annoy and amaze audiences with her skilful song craft and studio witchery … Her concept driven art could not be more out of step with the short attention span of our times … If, however, you are prepared to do the hard work and sit with the challenge 50 Words for Snow presents, you will be immensely rewarded … Whenever you listen to Bush’s music, a healthy appreciation of the ridiculous is a useful tool to have. It helps you to be ready for those moments in her albums that always pop up, the ones that make you wince inside and perhaps feel a little embarrassed that you are listening to it. But, nevertheless, you persevere because you love her and trust that there is something else going on, a deeper meaning that exists on the tantalizing fringe of the ludicrous … It has to be said here that as much as I love Kate Bush’s work, there are times when she gets too close to an uncritical and unthinking appropriation of indigenous cultures … On her new album, I do think Bush has not given enough thought about using the myth that ‘Eskimos’ have 50 words for snow as her core inspiration … there are moments on the title track and on ‘Wild Man’ in particular, that made me feel uncomfortable for all the wrong reasons. And is dressing in indigenous Tibetan costume really acceptable publicity material Kate? … 50 Words for Snow is the sound of a songwriter doing what she has always done: written, performed and produced music that is out of this world yet, importantly, in this world. The music, indeed, opens up multiple worlds, stimulating creativity, heralding expansiveness. Perhaps most significantly it forces contemporary listeners to exist within extended soundscapes that require the skill of attentive, deep listening in order to appreciate the full magnitude of the music’s beauty … Kate Bush has always been a healer, messenger and mediator between worlds … Nevertheless, I do think Bush needs to bring more awareness of how she appropriates other cultures in pursuit of her art. She risks alienating a lot of people who would otherwise be fans of her music. This is a shame, because in many ways it sparkles with brilliance.”
CD of the week from Dan Cairns in the Sunday Times (behind the pay wall):
“If Aerial raised eyebrows for addressing the unexpected possibilities and mental triggers contained in domestic routine, her new album proves no less befuddling and beguiling — and idiosyncratic … Musically, the album finds Bush at her most spare: several tracks feature no more than voice (thicker now, and even more emotionally resonant), piano, bass and drums. It isn’t entirely successful — there are times when you long for more sonic grandeur and open spaces, and fewer jazz colourings — but then along comes the hushed, compelling, overwhelming Among Angels, and yet again you think, there is nobody who comes close to this extraordinary woman.”
Five stars from Martyn Bandike in the Detroit Free Press:
“Kate Bush is in stunning, entrancing form on “50 Words for Snow … Over the course of seven expansively spacious, dreamlike compositions, Bush creates a parallel universe of almost matchless beauty. Her astonishing voice as powerful as ever, and just as impressive on piano — a lead instrument on much of the album — Bush carves out space for contemplation and reverie on songs having something to do with snow. But don’t think of this as some treacly, cliché-ridden concept album about sleigh bells ringing and Frosty the Snowman. It’s something way more profound than that.“
An article from Tim Adams in today’s Observer, probably to make up for the fact they didn’t get an interview. Thankfully, though a mite disinformed, it is not the trad hatchet job brewed up for those circumstances:
“The adjective that has always snagged on Bush, along with the requisite “ethereal”, is “guileless”. She follows, we are invited to believe, her instincts in a childlike way, mixing fantasy and self-absorption and surprising everyone with the results. Her contrivances are, in this reading, anything but contrived. In some of this, you might argue that her silence has been a powerful ally. The air of mystery that she conjured as a 19-year-old has been preserved by the recent parsimony of her output. Bush has successfully tapped into the media’s working definition of a recluse: someone who has no particular desire to be interviewed for magazines.”
3/5 from Kitty Empire at The Observer:
“Like trudging through drifts, 50 Wordscan be a frustrating listen, where dour piano motifs have the edge over catharsis. It blows hot and cold, with Bush holding back rather than letting rip, a disappointing feature of her latterday albums … The final piano track, “Among Angels” should be pulling floods of tears from listeners’ ducts but never quite locates the tap. This album is rather better when it is winking at you, rather than seeking to cryogenically preserve emotion.”
Jason Morehead in his Grace Notes* section at Christ and Pop Culture:
“On 50 Words For Snow, Kate Bush sings from the perspective of a snowflake as it drifts down from its cloudy birthplace to the ground, tells the story of a woman who has a love affair with a snowman, and has comedian/author/actor Stephen Fry recite 50 words for, well, snow. So you could be forgiven for dismissing the album as pretentious. It is pretentious. It’s also otherworldly, delightful, and constantly arresting … 50 Words For Snow feels warmer, more organic, and even playful at times.”
(*Grace Notes is a weekly exploration by Jason Morehead of signs of common grace in the music world. We hope to alert you to wonderful music, some of which will be spiritual in nature but all of which will be unique and worthy of your attention)
Half the panel either have a good laugh (“hilarious”) at Kate’s new album on Radio 4’s Saturday Review programme, or they think it’s dull (“nothing is going on”). This is something which one of those oft-mentioned “men of a certain age” I remember from British media reaction to The Dreaming. The other half including host Tom Sutcliffe, show some understanding of the album (“a fearless creator”). Find the review at 36 minutes into the stream.
Five Stars and nomination for ‘album of the year’ from Andy Snipper at Music News:
“I was told to listen to this album a few times before making up my mind about it and I have to say that although I fell in love with it almost from the first moments of ‘Snowflake’, repeated listening has suggested that this is going to be my vote for album of the year … The music here is entirely something that only Kate could produce. Apparently simple but with huge depths and subjects that in the hands of anyone else would simply be weird or mawkish. She seems to be singing about the beauty and the harshness of the winter but in many ways this is just like sitting around the campfire as a yoiungster and telling ghost stories … Kate Bush has never been an easy listen: even back to ‘Wuthering Heights’ or ‘Running Up That Hill’ there has been depth and complexity in her music. There has also been an element of sensuality, of enjoyment of the close and warm and of the intensely observed. This album is completely in touch with all of those things and when, in the finale ‘Among Angels’ that gorgeous voice sings that “I can see angels around you. They shimmer like mirrors in Summer” it goes right to the heart. Album of the year? By a country mile. Absolutely essential.“
Last night, Kate posted her thoughts at the situation in Tibet on her official site (see news posting below). We’d like to urge you to visit the Stand Up For Tibet website here and sign the pledge to show your concern about the current self-immolations and the crackdown in Tibet. (With thanks to Mandie at International Tibet Network)
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYbwNwc9xIc[/youtube]