FEATURE:
Beyond the Piano Keys…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during filming for The Line, The Cross and the Curve in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari
Kate Bush and an Incredibly Broad Sound Palette
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I have talked a lot…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a Lionheart album outtake in September/October 1978 at Great Windmill Street in Soho, London/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz
about Kate Bush’s debut album, The Kick Inside, lately as, not only is it my favourite album, but it has a quite different sound to albums that followed. I really like the fact that The Kick Inside has this simpler, more romantic sound that largely uses piano, voice, bass and guitar. Apart from the odd celeste, mandolin, beer bottle and Fender Rhodes here and there, The Kick Inside utilises the beauty of the piano, combined with the physicality of the guitar and percussion. In fact, before I move things along, it might be worth (briefly) mentioning the album and how the assimilation of a few well-selected sounds enhances the music. I am not suggesting other artists lack the compositional expansiveness as Kate Bush but, more and more, I am hearing new artists come through who are either not that adventurous when it comes to physical instruments – rather than samples and electronic sounds -, or they do not resonate or connect in the same manner (as Bush). The celeste, piano and acoustic guitar together gives Wuthering Heights a richness and depth that other artists might not have concocted. I listen to the song and notice these little touches that takes it to rarefied heights. The mandolin on Them Heavy People is a genius touch, whilst the boobam on Room for the Life has stayed with me ever since I first heard it.
It is hard to say why particular instruments makes the songs more interesting and memorable, but I do love the fact that Bush was thinking outside of the box from the very start! In 1978, there were innovative and broad-minded artists like Talking Heads, David Bowie and Wire, but a lot of the most popular artists of that year – from Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones to Bruce Springsteen and The Jam – could have led Bush in a more conventional and formulaic direction. Maybe it was her established love of artists like Roy Harper, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan and David Bowie that opened her eyes to the possibility of imaginative instrumentation, or it may have been the familial inspiration of her brother, Paddy Bush – who would often show her weird and wonderful musicians, instruments and sounds. I think it was a combination of family, influence and her own desire to give her incredible songs a physicality and voice that you would not get from piano, bass and guitar alone. Those who dismiss The Kick Inside as a ‘piano album’ or overly-simple should listen to songs like The Saxophone Song (with tenor saxophone), Kite (with clavinet) and Oh to Be in Love (with synthesiser), and realise that this assumption would be faulty and negligent. Andrew Powell produced Kate Bush’s first two albums and, as a classically trained musician with perfect pitch, I guess he was also bringing in different sounds that could bring these magnificent songs to new places.
From Lionheart (her second album), one could hear a noticeable change in musical direction. Though the album was rushed and was not allowed to form and percolate as freely as it should have been – owing to the pressure from EMI and the want to capitalise on Bush’s rising stock and stardom -, I do love the way these lesser-heard instruments made an introduction. Consider one of the album’s best tracks, Kashka from Baghdad, and the fact there is a Joanna Strumentum (an unidentified instrument), a strumento de porco (psaltery), and a pan flute. Few other artists would even think of adding much into the mix beyond more routine instruments, but Bush had this interesting and original song that she wanted to bring to life. I have always loved Oh England My Lionheart and the recorder and harpsichord, rather than making it twee and offbeat, gives the track an elegance that is essential. Over a dozen musicians played on Lionheart, and there is a variety and musical broadness that few other solo artists of the time would have considered. One can easily say unique songs strung together would naturally call for the compositions to be just as varied, but few artists have the bravery and foresight to combine such disparate and unusual sounds. When Bush took more control of the production from 1980’s Never for Ever onward, her compositions widened, and she pushed further away from the sounds one hears on The Kick Inside.
Bush’s songwriting was always astonishingly fresh and away-from-the-mainstream, but heavier songs on Never for Ever called for new arsenal. I have not even mentioned backing vocals. On The Kick Inside, Bush herself was layering her own voice (there was the odd backing vocal), but she utilised other voices more on Never for Ever. Roy Harper’s voice gives Breathing huge gravity, and the fretless bass, electric guitars and percussion combined with that vocal (and Bush’s) is a potent blend. I recently examined how Bush’s love of the Fairlight CMI enhanced her work and gave her so many new possibilities. I think Kate Bush is on the same level as David Bowie when it comes to stylistic changes and producing albums that are vastly eclectic yet focused. The balalaika on Babooshka and the koto on All We Ever Look For is inspiring. Again, I am not sure whether her brother’s endless fascination with the unusual guided her firmly…but look at the musical credits for Never for Ever, and there are so many unusual instruments listed! One can just overlook this but, when you hear them in the context of the song, you notice harder and get a new experience – such as the Minimoog on Egypt or the musical saw on The Wedding List! Kate Bush’s albums never really conformed to what was happening around her – in terms of her peers or what was popular -, but her restlessness and desire to always evolve and not repeat herself meant that, on The Dreaming and Hounds of Love, she once more brought new instruments into the studio and showed that she took nothing for granted. The reason Bush used so many different instruments was not to overload her songs needlessly: she was trying to find that distinct sound that her songs demanded.
The Dreaming is a classic case of a lot of cooks in the kitchen resulting in a magnificent feast. Bush almost went mad making the album, as she solo produced for the first time and, as such, was listening only to her own voice. Percy Edwards contributed an array of animal noises on the title track and, without mentioning him too deeply, Rolf Harris’ digeridoo gave the song and authentic edge (The Dreaming concerns the destruction of aboriginal homelands). Get Out of My House has some brilliant praying, whilst the backing vocals from Paddy Bush, Ian Bairnson, Stewart Arnold and Gary Hurst on the album’s opener, Sat In Your Lap is sublime. In terms of non-vocal instruments, The Dreaming does not repeat albums that came before. Aside from the Fairlight CMI – which I shall not tread over again -, I do love how, again, some pretty cool instruments give certain numbers a real kick. The Dreaming features a bullroarer, and the uilleann pipes on Night of the Swallow gives the song an Irish kiss that we would hear more explicitly on Hounds of Love’s Jig of Life. Combine the instruments and voices I have mentioned with the array of sounds and effects Bush accessed on the Fairlight CMI and you get this clash of the natural and artificial.
Not to skip through the rest of Bush’s discography, but Hounds of Love is a very different-sounding record to The Dreaming, Warmer sounds are elicited from the Fairlight CMI, and the drum sounds are less anxious and frenetic. Maybe to match Bush’s happier mind and settled mood, the colour palette on Hounds of Love is brighter and warmer - more in common with the countryside and open air rather than the indoors or the claustrophobic. There are almost twenty-five different musicians on Hounds of Love, but they all brought something special to the plate. The fiddles and bodhrán on The Ninth Wave’s Jig of Life provides insatiable kick and Irish blood; the fujara on The Morning Fog takes us to Slovakia, oddly. Bush not only suggests new colours and emotions with these instruments, but she takes the music to different countries and provides a more itinerant and explorative experience than you get from most musicians. Whilst Bush did retain a lot of the same musicians between albums, even the drumming, bass and guitar playing changed in tone and personality. Strip away every other instrument from The Sensual World, and the band are different to how they were on Hounds of Love in terms of their sound and vibe. The Sensual World arrived in 1989 but, rather than copy what was happening in the charts, Bush brought a flavour of the Middle East to Deeper Understanding with the tupan, and the Bulgarian vocal ensemble, Trio Bulgarka, add something spine-tingling to various numbers.
Kate Bush’s writing and lyrics infuse the senses and stimulate the mind, but it is the subtle touches and wonderful chemistry of the instruments that gives the music its beating heart. 1993’s The Red Shoes was less-well-received than previous albums, but Bush was definitely not limiting her ambitions when it came to the compositions. Listen to the kabosy on Eat the Music, or the valiha on Lily . These African sounds were not often heard on Pop records of the 1980s – if at all (maybe Talking Heads are the exception)! -, and I think these instruments say so much. By 2005’s Aerial, Bush moved away from using unusual instruments to the more heard-of in order to create arrest and power. Aerial’s orchestration and strings is no less imaginative and awe-inspiring than all the sounds of Hounds of Love or The Dreaming. If anything, one feels more moved and impressed by Aerial’s strings than the chaos on The Dreaming. On 50 Words for Snow – Bush’s latest studio album from 2011 -, there was almost a return to the more stripped sound of The Kick Inside. Although the lyrics and songs are different in terms of their maturity and intention, Bush takes things down to (largely) piano, bass, drums, and vocals – through we do hear flute, whistle, and harmonica. There are far fewer musicians on the album, and I think Bush’s desire to stay fresh meant that the wintry and almost Jazz-like sounds of 50 Words for Snow reminds many of The Kick Inside.
These albums were released thirty-three years apart, but the piano is very much the focal point. I think 50 Words for Snow’s percussion is more standout – the legendary Steve Gadd can be held responsible for that! I love all of her albums, in no small part because of how Bush unites accessible sounds with something that we have not heard before. I do hope she puts out more music but, until then, listen back to her catalogue and pay close attention to the songs. There are few artists out there where I unpick the compositions and listen out for particular instruments. With Kate Bush, songs stand in the memory because some rare instrument hits your ear and catches you by surprise. In terms of the albums that stand out most because of the instruments used…that would be a hard one. I would say Hounds of Love and The Red Shoes are particularly special, but one cannot discount the sheer beauty and emotion one gets from The Kick Inside and 50 Words for Snow and how, even though piano is at the centre, Bush uses it in a very personal and different manner. The last time I wrote about Kate Bush, I underlined how nobody has equaled her and, even though many are inspired by her, one cannot say there is a ‘new Kate Bush’ – as the fountainhead is very much untouchable and not going anywhere fast! One gets so much from a Kate Bush album; everyone will experience something different from each record. One thing is for sure: hearing a Kate Bush album take flight is…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush goes through her Babooshka routine in 1980
SUCH an aural treat.