Kate Bush - Aerial

Blimey! It takes me nearly as long to get off my backside and write this review as it took Kate to bother getting off her backside and make this album. After the emotional but often musically lackluster The Red Shoes album way back in 1993, Kate took time off to do her own thing, including starting a family. She briefly popped into the studio in 1996 to knock the single King of The Mountain into shape, but nothing further happened for many more years.
Having long since given up any expectation of seeing another Kate Bush album, I was somewhat surprised back in the summer of 2005, when it was announced that a new album was soon to be on its way. As such there was no lengthy period of "it is coming eventually" as with previous albums, leading to expectations running high. I was just very happy to have new Kate material. And hey! there are two CDs of material in a very nice package! Well, very slightly over 80 minutes of material which could have been squeezed onto one CD if somebody did a bit of editing. Having two CDs does mean you can choose whether to listen to the assorted odds and ends CD or the "birdie" concept CD, or just take a handy loo break half-way through.

The first CD "A Sea Of Honey" is the odds and sods half. A mixture of the great and the plodding. The single King of The Mountain was the first song to be heard and the first on the album, and it really doesn't do that much for me. It is as cleverly done as most Kate songs, and came with a typically batty Kate video, but the slurred vocals and lack of oomph failed to please. Yes, I know that the slurring is her impersonation of Elvis Presley, but it does irritate almost as much as that bloody big fade out at the end. You'd have thought that between 1996 and 2005 she could come up with a decent ending. Anyway we are on to more interesting territory with the second track π (pi), a song not about the number itself, but a man obsessed with the calculation of pi. It has often been mentioned in Kate Fan Circles that Kate could sing the telephone directory and it would still sound good, and here Kate goes for around 100 digits of pi. Trouble is, I still find a lack of involvement. There is no great hook, no amazing music, even Kate's vocals aren't that special. It sure is intriguing, not least due to the missing 22 digits and the few digits emphasized by backing vocals. Could this be Da Katie Code?
Things start to pick up with the delightful Renaissance-esque Bertie, a song about her son. Given the subject matter, it could so easily have been yucky, but the interesting choice of music combined with not-too-specific lyrics means it easily escapes the "pass the paper bag" hell of most odes to children.
Even better is Mrs. Bartolozzi, with just Kate at her piano it takes me back to her early material. Here though her maturity shines through a great set of lyrics. Never quite describing precisely what is going on, you get the impression of a great loss, precious memories and a life of willing domestic drudgery which is all Mrs. Bartolozzi has left to get her through each day. If you thought this was just a song about a washing machine than think again.
Unfortunately after that we have to get through the rather dull and plodding How to Be Invisible, a song that sounds like Kate, looks like Kate but for some reason doesn't dance like Kate. The lyrics seem to gently mock the more obsessive fan and her own apparent attempt to hide from view (according to the media). It never really gets going, staying on one level throughout. Luckily the song about a soldier's view of Joan Of Arc, Joanni shows that her talent for poppy hooks hasn't deserted her, this being one of two songs that could have been released as singles instead of King of The Mountain. The lyrics don't really say much and it's far from the best song of her career, but it is fun.
The final piece on the first disk is stunning. A song of memories and loss. Again just piano and vocals, A Coral Room is an emotional piece dealing with Kate's loss of her mother and how time can soften the pain. It made me cry, and still does sometimes. In fact it is difficult to listen to at times, but always worth the effort. Apparently Kate almost left this beautiful track off the album, luckily she didn't.

So the first CD is a mixed bag, but no more so than the last two albums. A quick trip to the loo (see, I said it was useful) and then on to the next CD, "A Sky Of Honey".

Basically this is a continuous concept piece covering most of a day (afternoon through to the following dawn) with a lot of birds thrown in. It is quite faux-classical sounding at times, and manages to sustain a beauty for most of the first half. It begins with a short but charming introduction (Prelude) with Bertie as "The Sun" watching and wondering about the birds. We then go straight into Prologue, a most lovely piece with Eberhard Weber's strange bass noise underpinning light touches of piano and string and Kate's gorgeous vocals. When something works as well as this, I can forgive the rather intrusive drums at the end. Next Rolf Harris as "The Painter" murmurs about his painting and leads us into the rather retro sounding An Architect's Dream, reminding me of Delius from her album Never For Ever and featuring that fretless bass sound that critics like to deride. You'd have thought by now that people might have worked out that Kate does her own thing, and doesn't follow the current fashion in music. If she thinks it is what a track needs she will use it, even if everyone else thought it died out in the 1980s. More orchestral strings play through the short linking piece The Painter's Link which takes us into Sunset. From the start Kate sings "Could be honeycomb" in a way that makes me melt. If I haven't already succumbed then it is about now that I feel that well of tears build up, that odd feeling in the belly, that lump in the throat. Absolutely marvelous! Sunset starts off with a somewhat laid-back jazzy feel, similar to pieces from Jane Siberry's Maria album, before bringing in the flamenco guitar and ending with a joyful carnival of sound. Ok I do have a few niggles about the over-repeated lyrics, but so far this is one of the best recordings of Kate's career.

Aerial Tal, as cute as it is with Kate singing along with a blackbird does break the flow of this disc (and it is where the vinyl version splits "A Sky Of Honey" in two). I do think that this short piece could have been developed further, or used just before the final piece Aerial which starts with a similar flow. It is around now that things take a downward turn, with Somewhere In Between coming across as not really a Bush track at all. Her voice sounds odd to me, the percussion rather bland, and the whole affair just plods by. It is a shame as the lyrics are great and there is a decent tune in there, but the end result is boring, especially coming after all that good stuff. Nocturn starts off sounding as if it is trying to get things back on track, with an eerie keyboard sound and Kate giving some good vocal. Then, it is back to a bloody boring backing beat. Nothing much happens for the next few minutes but gradually more and more layers are built up and that backing beat gets buried. Hurrah! The track finally starts to impress, hits a climax and goes plop into the electronic wibble that starts the final track Aerial. Hurrah! Almost unexpected, this disco booming bouncy track ends the album on a high note. Kate laughs along with the birds celebrating a new dawn and we go into a guitar wankfest with Kate singing unintelligibly. This is fabulous! I usually replay this track I love it so much. You'll find better guitar work elsewhere, better Kate singing, better bouncy beats, but who cares. This is one kick-your-arse-and-make-you-dance-on-the-rooftops type track. Yey!

Overall a damn good album, if you cut out the few bad bits and you like your pop supplied with emotional clout. Not her best (see The Dreaming) but still well worthy of entering her back catalogue.

So there we are. Kate came back, popped her head over her parapet and dropped this album on our heads before disappearing into whatever media-based fantasy land we think she lives in. So goodbye Kate and thank you for this one last album.

Or is it......