FEATURE:
Anniversaries, Celebrations, and the Fans’ Hopes
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush onstage in Copenhagen, Denmark on 26th April, 1979 for The Tour of Life/PHOTO CREDIT: Jorgen Angel
Kate Bush and Possibilities for 2024
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WE are almost in 2024 now…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
and there is speculation what the year could hold relating to Kate Bush. I really can’t say too much about a new album. It could come at any moment you feel – or maybe not at all. As much as we would love to see an eleventh studio album, there is no predicting when it will happen. I have said before how there has been this momentum from the past couple of years that would have given heart and inspiration to Bush. New fans discovering her work. I do think that an album is an ambition that we may not see fulfilled for a little while. There are a couple of important anniversaries I want to revisit and approach from a new angle. I did mention recently how 2024 sees the thirty-fifth anniversary of The Sensual World. This is going to be quite a big occasion. Even though that album, alongside the rest of her ten studio albums, have been reissued recently, I feel there should be some special appreciation and spotlighting of The Sensual World. It has not really been given any expansion of deep diving. I am tempted to do a podcast episode on the album, as I still think it is one of Bush’s most underrated releases. There are singles from the album that would benefit from a 4K HD version. I would say this about all of her videos, though the fact The Sensual World and This Woman’s Work are especially stirring and epic means that it would be wonderful to see a thirty-fifth anniversary tie-in. I do wonder whether there will be more articles and books written about the album.
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
It is such an important album. Between 1985’s masterpiece Hounds of Love and 1993’s The Red Shoes, it came in the middle an artist peak and an album that soon took her away from public attention for nearly twelve years. There is a lot to unpack and dissect when it comes to The Sensual World. There is another big anniversary that we celebrate next year. In fact, both of the remaining two big anniversaries I can see relate to Bush’s live projects. The Tour of Life will turn forty-five in April. Before the Dawn is ten in August. Alongside The Sensual World, they are both really important moments in her career that have huge anniversary approaching. I wonder whether there will be individual anniversary celebrations or a midway combination – perhaps something in June. The Tour of Life has not had an official DVD or album released. I have spoken about this before. The lack of high-definition videos of the tour. There were sets filmed, yet there is nothing that has been combined into a documentary. As The Tour of Life is forty-five next year, it would be great to have a new documentary or programme. This was Kate Bush’s biggest undertaking to that point. It was a live revelation and iconic thing. The same could be said of 2014’s Before the Dawn. Nobody felt that Bush would be back on stage. Well, some did…though they could not have predicted what was to come. With no DVD or anything filmed having been aired, there is only the live album. There is scope to have a tenth anniversary documentary of Before the Dawn.
Her two live ‘projects’ (a tour and residency) warrants much more exploration and expansion. Photos, interviews and fan reaction. There could be something in the form of a radio show that details each of the two. As The Tour of Life is coming up first, I think there should be some effort to make the forty-fifth anniversary of the first night – which happens on 2nd April (1979). There are book opportunities. As one of the most captivating live performers of her generation, scope for there to be documentaries that mix fan insight together with those who were involved in each – her band and collaborators from 1979 and those who were part of Before the Dawn. Together with that thirty-fifth anniversary of The Sensual World, there are a few exciting possible opportunities for Bush to say a few words or authorise a new release or reissue. Lionheart’s Wow is forty-five on 9th March. That will definitely be worth a few words. Enough to get our teeth into. Bush is not really someone who marks anniversary with reissues. Seeing as she has put back out her studio albums, and before a new studio album, there would be value in ensuring that the young generation who are discovering her music now get to know such important points in her career.
As much as anything, there will be desire to hear Kate Bush speak. She did talk with Woman’s Hour in 2022. After such an eventful and interesting past couple of years, a more extensive discussion with Kate Bush would be transfilling. It has been a time of retrospection in terms of her work. There does need to be something new. Even if it is a new release or packaging of her live material or an album like The Sensual World. Maybe there will be a new album. We will just have to wait! I am excited to see how people react to the upcoming anniversaries for The Tour of Life, Before the Dawn and The Sensual World. I feel 2024 is going to be another exciting and big year regarding Kate Bush and her music. As so many new people have found her music and America have embraced her in a way they hadn’t before, that will open up opportunities. Artists influenced by her work creating incredible work of their own. Perhaps the U.S. will show their affection with programmes and documentaries. There are going to be plenty of magazine specials and articles. A couple of books at least. There is also that air of unpredictability that means something extraordinary can come without warning. After a wonderful year where there has been some activity in the Kate Bush camp, I feel like some backlog and slate has been cleared. A path cleared in terms of reissues and older material. New ideas and a fresh phase is ahead. We all look forward to what Kate Bush treats…
2024 has in store.