FEATURE:
After the Snow Has Melted…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a photo taken during the promotion of 50 Words for Snow in 2011/PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton
Kate Bush and the Calming Influence of Her Music
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THIS is quite a general piece…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1979
because, having revisited Kate Bush’s 50 Words for Snow on its ninth anniversary a couple of weeks back, I have been thinking about how that album has a stillness that helps to calm and soothe. My upcoming features will be more specific in terms of albums and songs but, as we approach the end of the year and it has been such a tough one, many of us have been embracing music that makes us feel better and safer. I am not sure what 2021 holds in terms of the Kate Bush universe, but I feel we might get an album and, at the very least, there will be plenty of people discussing her music - and, like this year, maybe there will be one or two magazines dedicated to her work! I have said it before, but I do love how there has been a flurry of activity regarding Bush’s music. Even though her last studio album was nine years ago, so many people have expressed their love of her music; why she is so influential today and how her music has changed modern music. I love Bush’s more experimental albums like The Dreaming (1982), and Hounds of Love (1985) - and the more spirited and impassioned songs on those albums are incredible. What I really love about Bush – and why I was keen to do some features on 50 Words for Snow – is when she produces compositions, scenes and vocals that knock you over with its beauty and soothing nature!
I am going to end with a Kate Bush playlist – After the Snow Has Melted: Warm and Soothing – that will provide some beauty and comfort if you need it right now! 50 Words for Snow has so much depth and fascination throughout, but I think the album is one where you can close your eyes and get lost in. The album is not set at Christmas, but there is something timely about it in the way it makes you feel and how it moves you! Maybe it is the fact that there are few instruments and there is an emphasis on the piano and percussion. Bush has multiple sides and facets, but I especially love how her music can seduce and buckle the knees. Perhaps that is why The Kick Inside (1978) is my favourite album. There are faster and more energetic songs together with eye-opening lyrics, but I associate that album with incredible beauty and grace – as I have remarked before. I recently covered Moving (the opening track of the album) and discussed its stunning beauty; there are plenty of other songs on The Kick Inside that cast you into this dream world and draw you into a wonderful state of mind. The Man with the Child in His Eyes is a passionate and accomplished song, but it is one where you are stunned by its stillness and intimacy. I have been feeling especially anxious and stressed at the moment and I know there are particular Kate Bush songs that can make me feel lighter and more relaxed.
Feel It, and L'Amour Looks Something Like You are another couple of songs from The Kick Inside that gets into the heart and gives me some strength. I don’t want to rigidly define Bush as an artist who is just about summoning up beauty and gentleness because, if you know her work, you can hear so many different styles, sounds and sides. Every album of hers showcases that but, when I consider the best songs from Lionheart (!978), and Never for Ever (1980), they are the ones that transport me somewhere utterly beguiling and heavenly! Maybe I will do a feature about Bush’s voice and why it provokes different emotions. Symphony in Blue, In the Warm Room, and Kashka from Baghdad are sublime and spine-tingling; you listen to these songs and not only imagine what Bush is singing and paint these images, but the way she can evoke such power and passion whilst not exploding and letting her voice fly is amazing! Even when Bush was using technology more and had greater production direction from 1980, I think that she was aware that one of her greatest strengths is these ethereal and angelic performances. Delius (Song of Summer) is one of her most gorgeous tracks, whilst Blow Away (for Bill), All We Ever Look For, The Infant Kiss, and Night Scented Stock are incredibly atmospheric and beautiful – and they fit nicely with harder-edged and bolder songs like Babooshka, The Wedding List, and Breathing.
I think many look at The Dreaming and find it is quite a raw and edgy album. There is definitely a lot of strange sounds and voices but, as I keep saying, there are contrasts and blends that mean Bush always retains the magical and tender whilst deploying something odder and darker! This album is a classic case of these polemics. As much as I admire the more layered and arresting songs, it is those that ease the nerves and melt you that have been coming to mind more lately. From the verses of Houdini to the emotional All the Love, and the magnificent Night of the Swallow, these are songs that I have been returning to in order to provide a comfort blanket. Even on an album like Hounds of Love, where there is a lot of drama, energy and wildness, I love the way And Dream of Sheep makes me feel and the emotions that build up. It is one of those songs that moves me greatly but, at the same time, I can feel a warmth and protection that makes me less fearful! Hello Earth, and The Morning Fog (the last two tracks on The Ninth Wave/Hounds of Love) build a bit more - but I love when Bush’s voice is softer and, in a way, she is enveloping us in this hug! Even though The Sensual World contains fewer songs that have the same stillness and calm as her previous albums, This Woman’s Work – the final song on the album – is another one that can calm me.
That may seem strange when we consider the lyrics and the fact the song is quite heavy, but it is the way Bush sings and the emotion in her voice that, perhaps, makes me feel a sense of empathy and compassion. And So Is Love, and Moments of Pleasure from The Red Shoes are these incredible songs where there is something in the tracks that can ease stresses and make you feel warmer inside. I think the two albums that have been of particular comfort lately are Aerial (2005), and 50 Words for Snow. Maybe these albums are especially beautiful and still because of Bush’s changing domestic life and her priority of family over promotion, but there are very stirring moments and wonderfully rich and filmic compositions that have both stirred and settled me when I have required that. This is not to say that Bush’s music is a panacea that can eradicate all the stresses and fears we have, but there are these artists who have a gift when it comes to making us feel better and more positive. Listen to How to Be Invisible, and A Coral Room from the first disc of Aerial. These are songs that I can play and dive into. There are some sadder lines in places, but it is the way Bush sings and the feel of these songs that can ease burdens and anxiety. This is especially true of the second disc of the album, A Sky of Honey.
The entire suite of songs seems designed to cool the brow and warm the soul. There is so much beauty in the composition and so much love and tenderness in Bush’s voice that means, especially right now, Aerial seems like a real tonic and remedy against stress. There are songs not on studio albums that I would recommend to people if they want something calming and warm. Whilst I cannot include the track, Warm and Soothing, in the Spotify playlist (as it is not available on the platform for some reason) I will include it at the end separately. That sort of takes us back to 50 Words for Snow and album that seems feather-light but contains so much life and weight. Among some of the billowier scenes and compositions are these delicate touches and a blend of spoken passages and gorgeously sung tracks. Almost the entirety of 50 Words for Snow has this ability to make the listener feel, ironically, warmer and more positive. I have done a pretty quick sweep across Bush’s catalogue, but not too many people have spoken exclusively about the way her songs can envelope one in soft layers at times as dark. From her debut in 1978 through to her most recent album, I have been revisiting Kate Bush’s music and finding it so useful and reassuring when it comes to moving forward! I guess a lot of artists have the power to cocoon people whilst, at the same time, giving them a lift and unveil all these stunning colours and beautiful fragments of light. To me, few do it as well and consistently…
AS Kate Bush.