FEATURE:
Under the Leaves, Away From the Party
Looking Ahead to a New Edition of An Essential Kate Bush Biography
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THERE have been a few editions…
IN THIS PHOTO: Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush author, Graeme Thomson/PHOTO CREDIT: Graeme Thomson
of a superb and must-read Kate Bush biography. Graeme Thomson’s Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush is a book I first got back in 2019. I think I have bought a few copies since then. First published in 2010, there was an updated edition that came out in 2012. The latest edition, published in 2019, included writing and reaction to Kate Bush’s return to the stage for Before the Dawn (2014). It showed that you can never predict Kate Bush! There is always something going on. Fortunately, given how much has happened since 2019, there is another edition coming. With new words, foreword and testimonies, author Graeme Thomson announced that Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush is coming out in July. The cover looks gorgeous! It is not the final cover yet, as Sinéad Gleeson will be added to the one that will be chosen. I am excited to see what comes from it! Before moving on, I want to focus on the book as it is at the moment. I would advise anyone to pop into their local bookshop – or a Waterstones if they can – and maybe get a copy of the 2019 edition. It is good preparation for this new edition. First, here is some overview about a must-own Kate Bush biography from an author who brilliantly and passionately takes us into the life and career of one of music’s most distinct and respected artists:
“This latest edition of Under The Ivy is fully updated to include analysis of Bush's stunning return to live performance in August 2014. Her run of London concerts was the most unexpected and eagerly awaited pop event of the 21st Century. An acclaimed study of one of the world's most enigmatic artists, Under The Ivy combines a wealth of new research with rigorous critical scrutiny. Featuring over 70 new interviews with those who have viewed from close quarters both the public artist and the private woman, this compelling biography offers numerous fresh perspectives on a unique and elusive talent. Under The Ivy examines Bush's unconventional upbringing in south London, the youthful blossoming of her talent and her evolution into one of the most visually and sonically creative artists of the past 35 years.
It focuses on her unique working methods and pioneering use of the studio on landmark albums such as The Dreaming and Hounds Of Love, her core influences and key relationships, her profound influence on successive generations of musicians, and her most recent releases: Director's Cut, on which Bush reworked 11 songs from her back catalogue, and 50 Words For Snow, her first album of new material for six years”.
I do really love Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush. It has been an indispensable and wonderful companion. I have referenced the book so many times when writing Kate Bush feature. The news of an updated edition coming in July has been met with celebration and praise from so many Kate Bush fans. I am going to get to some reviews of Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush prior to focusing on the new edition. The Kate Bush Encyclopedia collated some positive reviews for Graeme Thomson’s masterful guide and insight into the genius Kate Bush:
“Mojo added: “Mapping a path through the life of this enigmatic songwriter is not easy, but Graeme Thomson’s superb book manages to do just that.” The Anti-Room wrote: “Apart from the sheer wealth of information – from studio recordings, to childhood trivia, music critic Graeme Thompson has vast knowledge of his subject. His enthusiasm and general interest are part of the reason this is such an engaging read. Media perceptions of Kate as fey or eccentric are challenged and the stories he has gleaned from countless sources shape a more accurate picture of a fascinating creative talent. A must-read for fans and recommended for any fans of biography.” Classic Prog Rock: “It’s certainly a book that will keep Kate’s very many fans pretty happy for some time to come.” And finally, the Irish Times: “The best music biography in perhaps the past decade… an absorbing, painstakingly researched and downright fascinating book…. After this magnificent read… you will come to appreciate her work that bit more. And if that isn’t the point of music biography, what is?”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Clive Arrowsmith
Prior to moving on, I want to bring in this review of a book that should be on everyone’s shelf. Even if you are thinking of ordering the forthcoming edition of Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush, I would still urge people to buy the existing edition. I do wonder what Kate Bush news and events might come about prior to July. Also, years from now, I would not be surprised if Graeme Thomson released another editions. Especially if a new album is announced:
“Kate Bush seems to reveal so much of herself in her songs despite being more of a storyteller than a self-dissecting singer-songwriter. So much of her own intense connections to family, sex, love, and nature bleed through her tales of soldiers, ship-wreck survivors, ghosts, monsters, talking houses, and amorous computers. In reality, Kate Bush is an extremely private person, but the personal air of her music breeds a great deal of curiosity, empathy, and speculation in critics and fans alike.
Biographer Graeme Thomson is clearly a fan, though his work also requires him to be a critic. That work puts him in the tricky position of balancing his gasping admiration with professional distance, to respect the artist for whom he has so much respect while also telling her story with honesty and thoroughness. He did an exceptional job of traversing that tightrope with Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush, which examines her life, music, work methods, and frustrating relationship with the media. Thomson waves away the rumors incessantly fluttering about her like moths. Ill-informed and disgruntled journos love to paint Bush as a pretentious thrush, a pampered rich girl, an airhead speaking in constant “Wows” and “Amazings!”, a recluse, or all false impressions bundled together. The author calls out the less spectacular moments of her career (such as The Red Shoes) with all due frankness and as much tact as he can muster. He also gets deep into fascinating little side roads of Bush’s career, such as her collaboration with Donald Sutherland on the “Cloudbusting” video.
Thomson originally published Under the Ivy in 2010 when Kate Bush’s career may have seemed like it had wound down. She hadn’t released an album in five years at that point. A year after the book’s publication, Bush revisited some old material on Director’s Cut and released an album of new material, 50 Words for Snow. Since then she has done the unimaginable by staging concerts for the first time in 35 years with her triumphant “Before the Dawn” series at the Hammersmith Apollo. Thomson rightfully sensed this would be a good time to revisit and revise his landmark biography, and the updated edition subjects Bush’s post-2010 work to the same scrutiny, praise, and criticism that her first four decades received in the first edition—his intense look at “Before the Dawn” gave me a serious yen for a DVD release of the show”.
You can pre-order a copy of Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush. Taking in events and updates that have happened in Kate Bush’s career since 2019, it will be fascinating to see what Graeme Thomson includes in the updated edition of his biography. With more fans aware of her work, this is going to be a truly go-to volume for them. I am so excited to own my copy:
“The critically acclaimed definitive biography of Kate Bush, revised and updated for 2024, with a new foreword by Sinéad Gleeson.
Detailing everything from Bush’s upbringing to her early exposition of talent, to her subsequent evolution into a stunningly creative and endlessly fascinating visual and musical artist, Under The Ivy is the story of one woman's life in music. Written with great detail, accuracy and admiration for her work, this is in equal parts an in-depth biography and an immersive analysis of Kate Bush's art.
Focusing on her unique working methods, her studio techniques, her timeless albums and inescapable influence, Under The Ivy is an eminently readable and insightful exploration of one of the world's most unique and gifted artists. The text has been updated to include coverage of Bush’s return to the top of the charts in 2022 following the extraordinary resurgence of ‘Running Up That Hill.’ An eye-opening journey of discovery for anyone unfamiliar with the breadth of Bush’s work, Under The Ivy also rewards the long-term fan with new insights and fresh analysis.
“The best music biography in perhaps the past decade” The Irish Times
“Superb.... A compelling examination of an artist in a constant state of becoming” Mojo
"Penetrating textual study potently combining interviews and research" The Beat
"Excellent... expertly unravelling her contradictions and motivations" Record Collector
"I’ve never met Kate Bush. But on occasion we may have shared the same dream about the afterlife of Elvis Presley – a fact I learnt while reading this wonderful book. She’s beguiling and eccentric and in thrall to a singular vision. She’s also smart in not dispelling her mystery. Over the years she has come to occupy a unique place in the British psyche. She’s now part national treasure, and part pop Athena with her devoted acolytes. Under The Ivy is respectful, but it gets us pretty close to the temple. This is the perfect book for aficionados or even the merely curious" Paddy McAloon (Prefab Sprout)
"Graeme is a fantastic biographer, warm and wise. He brings Kate’s interior and exterior lives to life, in vivid colours, in this wonderful book" Jude Rogers, author of The Sound of Being Human
"Peers deep into the weeds of this extraordinary woman’s work. Under The Ivy brilliantly fleshes out the stories behind the Bushcraft, without reducing any of her music’s enduring magic" Rob Young, author of Electric Eden and All Gates Open: The Story of Can
"Written in prose that from time to time seems linked umbilically to the very same ‘otherworld’ from which Kate Bush’s art manifests, Graeme Thomson’s style of storytelling penetrates the surrounding truths and myths. In doing so he presents us with the rarest of things: a portrait of Kate Bush incarnate" Jim Kerr (Simple Minds)
"There is no shortage of books written about Kate, but when Under The Ivy first appeared it felt like the definitive text. Probing, exhaustively researched, with a huge attention to detail, it was immersive and engaging. Graeme Thomson is clearly an admirer of the work, but avoids any hagiography" Sinéad Gleeson, author of Constellations and Hagstone
"An absolute joy for the Kate Bush fan, indeed any music fan, delving deeply and passionately into the world of one of our most important and cherished artists. A fascinating and richly rewarding read, this book explores in exquisite detail a truly unique vision and uncompromising approach in what has been the creation of some of the most incredible and intoxicating music ever recorded" Emma Pollock
"This is writing about music, and one of the key songwriters and performers of her or any time, that demands to be read not only by fans and connoisseurs, but by anyone interested in art and those who make it" Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us and Greatest Hits
"It’s such a well written and detailed book.... satisfyingly in depth and revealing and just as its title suggests a door to a secret garden, we get unseen glimpses of a private life and the connections of that world to one of the most influential and important artists of my life time. Absorbing, revealing and immersive" Kathryn Williams, singer-songwriter and author of The Ormering Tide
Publication Date: 11.07.2024
ISBN:9781915841353
Extent: 432 pages
Format: Paperback”.
On 11th July, we will get a beautiful and updated version of Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush. It is one of my favourite music books ever (you can also buy the audiobook). I will review the book when it comes out in July. In the meantime, I wanted to make people aware who may not know about this revised edition. With a foreword from the brilliant Sinéad Gleeson, this is going to be a fascinating book. I do think that every Kate Bush fan…
NEEDS to order a copy.