FEATURE:
Peaks and Hills
PHOTO CREDIT: Kate Bush/Fish People
Kate Bush in 2023: A Rare Legacy Artist Always Engaging with Her Fans
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PERHAPS I have been reframing this wrong…
PHOTO CREDIT: Kate Bush/Fish People
when it comes to Kate Bush. She has recently announced that her studio albums are getting reissued. Bush has worked on the design of the vinyl. Each with their own colour and pattern, that has also been bolstered with a special attention to Hounds of Love. That has been reformatted into two separate records. The first is called The Baskerville Edition. This features artwork and illustrations by the Glasgow-based design studio, Timorous Beasties. The album also has a solar-powered flashing LED light. The second new format consists of two boxes called The Boxes of Lost at Sea. Each contains one side of the album and will have their own UV-printed illustration on white vinyl and a battery-powered LED light. I have reworded that from NME’s reporting of the news. It is an early Christmas present for fans. I was pleased when that news was announced, as it is good for artists to keep engaged with their work and fans. Bush knows that there are a lot of new fans coming through that are discovering her work. Whilst she has reissued her albums before (in 2018), there has been nothing like this. Bush really involved with the feel and look of the albums. Collector’s items mainly, this is a good chance for new fans and older ones to purchase these rare and beautiful releases! Even if the Hounds of Love boxes cost quite a pocket and they are going to be reserved to those who have a bit more to splash out, they are still lovely things to see…
I think, at first, I was a bit down on the fact that we were getting pre-exciting work with no news of anything new. Some fans felt the reissues were cash-grabs or there was this cynical move to exploit fans in a way. I don’t think that. Kate Bush would not do that, yet many of us hoped that there would be some news of future revelation. Some glimpses of material that we have not heard before. Kate Bush has not posted a Christmas message to her site yet though, nearer the time, we can all wonder. I guess she will wish for peace in the world and react to the genocide happening in Palestine. More than anything, she will thank fans for their support. She will look back on a very busy 2023! The past two years have been exceptionally successful and busy. Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) stormed the charts and ignited this huge new affection for Bush and her music. This year continued strong. Finally inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (after previously being shortlisted three times), it now seems that the U.S. – slightly indifferent to her work before – have embraced Kate Bush. It has been a couple of years of looking back. Revisionism, nostalgia and celebrating the fact that Bush’s music, however old, was resonating. St. Vincent covered Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. Even though she was nervous and some were not sold, it was a loyal rendition from a passionate and life-long fan of Kate Bush. I have been a bit cynical regarding the lack of news of new material – and whether that will ever come. Instead, I feel that it is nice that we get to hear from Kate Bush.
Not only have their been messages (on her website) from Bush. She has been actively creative. Many legacy/legendary artists might not take effort to revisit and revise their back catalogue. They may release older albums but then leave it at that. Bush has gone to lengths to redesign the vinyl of her studio albums so that fans get something fresh. Taking that time to design and think about the personality of each album. I know we all have a wish list when it comes to as-yet-unreleased Kate Bush stuff. A DVD of the Before the Dawn residency may not happen because of technical stuff – the fact there were not cameras on the stage means you get a limited and almost one-dimensional view of the performance -, though many would welcome the album being available via Spotify (it is on Apple at the moment). Maybe some more merchandise could be announced…even though Bush has brought out some new stuff. I also personally hope that one day we get to see some of the earliest material officially released. Those demos and home recordings from pre-The Kick Inside would be embraced by fans. If , that is, Bush signed off. They are truly fascinating. I hope that we get some ‘new’ things in 2024. Whether that is a reissue that we have not been expecting or there is some olde material coming through that has not been heard before, this would welcomed for sure!
It is amazing that Kate Bush keeps active regarding her previous material. That creative spark is still there. Not that this inevitably will lead to new material, although it would be strange if she kept busy with her archive material and wanted people to hear that but was closed off to new stuff. Bush is someone who writes quickly but records more slowly. Whether 2024 reveals Kate Bush’s eleventh studio album or not, we all should be grateful that 2023 has been a very busy one. Lots of success and adulation for her. That Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. The continued growth of her fanbase. More and more people turning onto her work. My hope is that, now Bush has got this new level and layer of fans, radio stations and the media expands their horizons. That she is not associated alone with Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) or Stranger Things. That Netflix show did not ‘make’ her or define her: she was a hugely important and successful artist decades before that. We all need to explore her catalogue more. That is part of the point of these vinyl reissues. Instead of being narrow or sticking with Hounds of Love, take more time to look inside her other nine studio albums. Congratulations to Kate Bush on a remarkable 2023! We are all excited to think of that the next year holds in store. After such a brutal and scary one in the wider world, knowing that Kate Bush is out there being creative and still interested in her own music is a huge source of comfort. Having previously said she never listens to her own work; this has very much changed recently. For all Bush has given us this year, we should very much…
ALL be thankful.