Thanks to Charles Slane for letting us know that Ken Bruce will be talking to Kate on his show, Monday 9th May, show starts at 9.30am UK time. From the BBC: “Your chance to hear Ken in conversation with Kate Bush. In a rare interview recorded at her house, she chats about her latest album Director’s Cut, on which she revisits a selection of tracks from her previous albums The Sensual World and The Red Shoes.” You can listen to the show live on the day here.
Kate’s official Youtube channel has posted the new film, directed by Kate, which accompanies Deeper Understanding. The clip is also being made available for download on all international iTunes stores.
[youtube width=”640″ height=”518″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzqF_gBpS84[/youtube]
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Seán says: I was kindly invited by EMI Ireland to a playback of Director’s Cut in Dublin during the week. I know that the reviews of this album are going to be coming thick and fast soon, and so with that in mind I didn’t want to spoil things too much by posting a blow-by-blow review of the album on the main news page. Suffice to say I was thrilled by what I heard. This is a gorgeously rich musical experience that I can’t wait to spend a LOT of time with when it’s finally released next month. I have instead posted some of my initial impressions on a separate page here if you want to read them, but I know many of you are just holding out till May 16th so that you can enjoy your own experience with this new record.
Martin Howard in The Guardian calls for a new English national festival day:
“So long then St George. Don’t be downhearted, you’ve still got Beirut and all the rest. But where to look for a replacement? A national symbol who could embody the spirit of England and inspire a party to rival St Paddy’s Day. A secular figurehead would be my personal preference, with Kate Bush Day being the new holiday of choice…”
From the official Facebook page:
Kate’s made an extraordinary new short film starring Robbie Coltrane, Frances Barber and Noel Fielding, to accompany the release of her current single “Deeper Understanding”. The film will be available on Kate’s official Youtube page from Tuesday 26th April 2011 and available to download from all iTunes stores worldwide. To get things started and bring you Deeper Understanding we’ve posted a short clip on YouTube here.
[youtube width=”640″ height=”518″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR_0Ni3BtYM[/youtube]
From the press release:
“Deeper Understanding’s prescience of web-age alienation seems quite remarkable” – Mojo
Kate, is releasing her new album Director’s Cut on May 16, and has directed an amazing short film to accompany the release of the current single “Deeper Understanding”. The film stars Robbie Coltrane as a successful businessman who is so obsessed by his computer that it leads to the break-up of his family (Frances Barber plays his wife) and, ultimately, his demise.
[Click on the film strip above for a larger image]
In an extraordinary sequence of shots, Coltrane is taken over by the spirit of the computer (played by Albert Bush, Kate’s son) , is reborn and seeks to exact revenge on the spirit, tracking it over London to a room inhabited by Noel Fielding. Revenge is absolute, resulting in the death of Fielding’s character…and a surprising ending.
The film was conceived and directed by Kate and produced by Michael Solinger. It was shot over 5 days in London. The amazing visual effects were worked on by Ben Perrot of Destroy All Monsters and Matthias Lindahl from Fido.
“Deeper Understanding” first released in 1989 is perhaps even more relevant today as technology and computers begin to dominate our lives and leave us with little time to dream as technology and computers play an increasingly dominant role in our lives.
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From a Press Association report on the MOJO interview:
But in a new interview with Mojo magazine to mark her comeback, the 52-year-old put her years of silence on the touring circuit down to the sheer exertion of the ordeal.
“It was enormously enjoyable. But physically it was absolutely exhausting,” she said.
“I still don’t give up hope completely that I’ll be able to do some live work, but it’s certainly not in the picture at the moment because I just don’t quite know how that would work with how my life is now,” said Bush, who has largely withdrawn from public life to bring up her son Bertie, 12. “Maybe I will do some shows some day. I’d like to think so before I get too ancient – turn up with me Zimmer frame.”
She continued: “I enjoy singing but with the albums it’s the whole process I find so interesting. If I was going to do some shows it would be the same thing. Let’s just see, shall we?” More about MOJO Magazine here.
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Kate Bush is back with a collection of reworked tracks from two previous albums. Andy Gill welcomes back an eccentric and idiosyncratic talent who explored sexuality and social taboos ….
“For virtually her entire career, Bush has operated outside the prevailing trends and transient fashions of the music scene; in her music could be discerned few, if any, obvious musical precedents, the true imprimatur of the unique artist. Accordingly, like Joni Mitchell, she is frequently cited as an influence on successive generations of questing musicians, not all of them female. The lack of recognisable musical influences in her own work is partly due to her enduring preference for drawing inspiration from other media, interpolating literary works by the likes of Barrie, Joyce and Tennyson, and films by such as Kubrick and Powell and Pressburger; and to her fascination with outré intellectual weirdos like Gurdjieff and Wilhelm Reich ….”
From Mojo Magazine: “In the June issue of MOJO, we speak exclusively to the peerless Kate Bush about her return to music. Following a five-year silence, the influential artist speaks to MOJO (and only MOJO) about self-doubt, playing live, why she has decided to re-record tracks from two of her previous albums, her NEXT album, and what the estate of James Joyce have to say about it all. PLUS! A full career overview of her genius and Tricky, Antony and other stars assess her greatest work.” (thanks to Louise for the cover image) More about Mojo here.
The June issue of Q Magazine (out in May) features a four-star review of Director’s Cut by Paul Moody.
“…even for this most unpredictable of artists, the follow-up to 2005’s Aerial is a creative curveball. A reworking of 11 tracks from 1989’s The Sensual World and The Red Shoes, each with a brand new vocal, it seems a curious move for an artist who has made a virtue of never looking back (her solitary greatest hits album, The Whole Story, was released in 1986). Director’s Cut succeeds, however, by axing the star cameos (The Red Shoes originally included contributions from Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Nigel Kennedy) and thrusting some of her most powerful songs back into the spotlight.” (thanks to Louise and Menju56 on our forum)
LOVING this vocal! I think we can definitely see this song being played a few times at this year’s Sensual Walk event in Howth on June 18th! 🙂
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYgwQUBsQWk&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Another review to whet our appetites for the new album appeared today courtesy of Priya Elan at the NME here. May 16th cannot get here quick enough! (with thanks to Louise)
The Dublin radio station Phantom 105.2 featured a review of Director’s Cut this morning, with journalist Eamon Sweeney of The Irish Independent. You can hear it here (with thanks to Tom on our forum)
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/13685103″]
UPDATE 19th April: Ben has just tweeted the following:
Great NME blog article by Ben Myers:
“Next month sees the release of a new album by Kate Bush. At 52 years old she remains substantially cooler than artists half her age. Here’s why…“
Huffington Post writes about Gwyneth Paltrow‘s cover of This Woman’s Work (clip included) on Every Mother Counts a new 15-song Starbucks compilation CD co-produced by supermodel/maternal health advocate Christy Turlington Burns … Robert Burton-Bradley thinks Sat in Your Lap is one of the worst videos ever made … Zoe Lyons “Clownbusting” show reaches Melbourne … Denmark’s Treefight for Sunlight cover Wuthering Heights on their new album … Katie Noonan and Karin Schuapp include Kate covers in their showcase of “beautiful songs from the British Isles” … This Woman’s Work is one of ten “Awesome Movie Songs” … Royksopp include cover of Wuthering Heights in their San Francisco gig … WSO’s Orchestral Rock gig includes cover of Wuthering Heights with Salomaa on vocals … Camilla Kerslake covers This Woman’s Work on her new album Moments … Richard Fairbrass of Right Said Fred thinks Kate is the best female artist Britain has ever seen … The Dreaming a Gnostic text? … another remix of Running Up That Hill … Jim Guthrie covers Wuthering Heights on his album Now, More Than Ever … Kathy Sundquist and Jon Shelton cover The Man with the Child in his Eyes … Comments on a blog which simply put up The Man with the Child in his Eyes from the Christmas Special … Best of Pop compilation 2010 included Running Up That Hill … Kate inspires artist Joe Hendry … Mind Flip likes And So Is Love … UmYeahOkay tells us why Kate Bush is Cool … This Woman’s Work inspires author Mila Ramos … What a Wonderful Life wants to dream about Kate … The Simple Atheist posts seven covers of Wuthering Heights … Faery Sola, a graphic artist, is inspired by the video for Running Up That Hill … Sosostyle likes Kate’s 80s photos … Zen and the Art of Tightrope Walking examines The Red Shoes … The AssHat Lounge salivates over the Wuthering Heights red dress video … It’s My Kind of Scene puts Running Up That Hill at no.55 in their Top 100 Music videos … This Woman’s Work is apparently the quintessential, classic, sex song … Miss Moss updates Kate’s look from the Hounds of Love video … Mark Wallace considers The Infant Kiss and The Innocents … a disco mix of This Wonan’s Work??? … Prog Archives reviews The Sensual World … Ian Marchant wants to contact Kate to clear a quote for his new book … and finally Brian Kirst mentions Kate and the Gothic and Fantastic.