FEATURE:
Catch Us Now for I Am Your Future
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in an outtake from the Babooshka photo session in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
What Possibilities Does 2025 Hold for All Things Kate Bush?
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IT is a fool’s errand…
ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Jim Kay
predicting what will happen with Kate Bush in 2025! However, as we are nearing the end of the year and looking ahead, it is worth predicting. After a somewhat downbeat 2023 Christmas message from Bush, there was a glimmer of hope. Many didn’t think we would see much activity from Kate Bush during the pandemic. Not only did she post message to her website, there was also the success of Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) after it featured on Stranger Things. I am almost sick of talking about it, though it is important. Nobody thought this year we would hear a new interview from Kate Bush. Speaking with Emma Barnett for Today in October, Bush was discussing the Little Shrew (Snowflake) video and how she wants to raise funds for War Child. When asked whether Bush was thinking of new music, she revealed she is keen to do something new and was open to the idea. Whilst not an official confirmation of her eleventh studio album, it is the clearest indication in years we have had. That shaft of light some thought would never come! It has been more than thirteen years since she released 50 Words for Snow. Whilst many feel that revelation for Today was Bush looking ahead to maybe starting writing for a new album, the fact she has discussed the possibility of a new album means it is probably further along than the inception stage. Rather than it being a polite answer to a question – Bush wanting people to stop talking about it -, this was her genuinely engaging with a new album.
If she had no plans then she would have said that. I do think next year will finally be the one where Bush announces a new album. As I say with every feature like this, I hope she does not announce one before the end of the year, as it messes up so many features I have already written! I am writing this feature on 24th November – it will go out in December – and thinking we have heard everything significant from Bush in 2024. There will be her Christmas message later in the year. We mark forty-five years of her Christmas special, Kate, on 28th December. However, next year offers some tantalising possibilities. Given that possibility Kate Bush is at least working on an album if not ready to announce it yet, that means there will be a lot of fascination and exposure. I think we will see new magazine articles and entire editions dedicated to her. Rather than it being tied to a particular anniversary, we will see articles that rank her songs and albums. Fans talking about their music. I am going to write a separate feature speculating what a new album might sound like or be called. It is likely that we will get a few Kate Bush posts on her website. In terms of this year, it has been defined by retrospection and reissues. It seems like Bush has finished with that particular stage. What could she reissue or repackage for 2025? The albums have come out several times and I don’t think she could do anything more with them. I guess we have to accept that Bush will not reissue albums with demos, outtakes or B-sides.
I shall come to the biggest anniversary of 2025 at the end. There are two big anniversaries later in the year. In September, Never for Ever turns forty-five. I think we will get magazine and online celebration of this album closer to the date. The majestic Aerial turns twenty next November. I hope that both anniversaries are greeted with new inspection and spotlight. As I say, there will be no more album reissues. Instead, a chance for fans to come together to share their thoughts about this important album. I think it is unlikely we will get a new Kate Bush biography, though you can never bet against a book of some sort coming out. Leah Kardos released her book about Hounds of Love for the 33 1/3 series. Maybe Kate Bush album will be added to the series in 2025? I do think we will get at least one new Kate Bush-related book, though it is unclear what it could be about. Given she has invited the possibility of new music, it will compel and inspire writers. Although it is unlikely to be marked by any Kate Bush post or anything online, I am looking forward to June. That will mark fifty years since Kate Bush visited AIR Studios in London and recorded two songs that would appear on her debut album, The Kick Inside. Although Humming (or Maybe as it was known) did not make the cut, The Man with the Child in His Eyes and The Saxophone Song did. The versions we hear on the album were from 1975 and that recording. Bush was only sixteen when she laid down those vocals. So extraordinary! What else could come from Kate Bush in 2025?
I do think that there will be some charity involvement. Bush has recently raised money for War Child, so I would not be surprised if she increases that involvement. Keen to raise money for worthy causes. There was a Kate Bush pop-up in Kings Cross, London in 2018, which sold merchandise and albums. That was the year she remastered her albums, so they were available, alongside some great items. It raised a lot of money for Crisis. It would be wonderful if there was another pop-up shop in 2025. I do feel we will get a lot of Kate Bush covers next year. More than in recent years anyway. Artists discovering her now sharing their takes on her tracks. Maybe Hounds of Love’s tracks will get most exposure, though you never know which songs will be covered. Kate Bush will engage with fans through the year. I feel we will get an album announcement at some point next year. The likelihood is she has written tracks for an album and will not leave such a huge gap between finishing archiving and retrospection and something new. Why would she say she is interested in making new music and then leave us hanging for a couple or several years?! It is very unlikely we will have an entire year when Bush is writing and recording and we’d get an album announcement some time in 2026. I think it is likely that she will announce an album towards the summer next year and release something in the autumn or early winter. However, as this is Kate Bush, you can never tell! I get the feeling she has recorded quite a bit of a new album and will have something ready to go next year. It would be wonderful if we got an eleventh studio album and Bush kept the door open for a twelfth studio album. It does seem like she is keen to embark on a new creative phase, so all fans want her to keep recording. We can’t be greedy, though!
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during the photo session for The Ninth Wave/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
The biggest anniversary next year is when Hounds of Love turns forty on 16th September. Even if the album has been reissued a few times in various forms and will not be done again, there will be plenty of attention around it. I would like to think there will be a podcast or two. A BBC show or documentary. Maybe not filmed. Instead, a station like BBC Radio 4 will commission a documentary. One that examines an album that seems as relevant now as ever. I do also think BBC Radio 6 will run a day of playing songs from the album on 16th September. Hearing from fans of the album. I keep putting the idea out there of an adaptation of The Ninth Wave. The album’s second side suite, it was brought to life for 2014’s Before the Dawn though the DVD will never be released. People say that the stage version is sufficient and there is no demand for a filmed version. I would disagree. The vast majority of Kate Bush fans have and never will see that staged version. Things can be done more than once if done differently. Bush has reissued the same albums more than once. She also said in 1985 how she was thinking of making a cinematic version of The Ninth Wave…and fans cannot really speak for Kate Bush or predict how others will react. Personally, I feel there would be demand and definite scope. Some film or single comedy-drama announced near the fortieth anniversary of Hounds of Love. I have previously pitched an idea where Saoirse Ronan is the woman lost at sea. Playing a character called Catherine, we would follow her after her wedding day and a honeymoon trip that would involve her being on a boat. Coming out of New York, she falls into the sea midway through a cruise. Set in modern-day U.S. in August, we would focus on the heroine trying to stay alive as The Ninth Wave comes to life. Each song would have a different visual and cinematic tone. There would be a mix of terror, suspense, comedy, emotional hit and beauty. Different lighting, visual styles and techniques as eventually Catherine is found by a helicopter and we see her returned to New York as she ponders her life.
IN THIS PHOTO: Saoirse Ronan/PHOTO CREDIT: Nathan Merchadier
There is a lot more to it than that, though that is the core of the story. We end the film wondering if she actually survived and this is a dream or she did get back and it is real. Whether it was an accidental or she was pushed. Kate Bush’s The Ninth Wave very much at the centre of the film of the same name. I recently shared a feature where I pitched a potential Kate Bush video (for a hypothetical new single). I actually think it would fit better as the opening of The Ninth Wave. Catherine in this scenario listening to a song through headphones (I am imagining something by David Bowie or even Radiohead) before the introduction ends and we cut to her in her New York apartment at night lying awake with headphones on. An overhead shot of the bedroom that would mirror the overhead shot during Hello Earth near the end of The Ninth Wave. Again making us wonder if she survived and The Ninth Wave was a dream or she is dreaming of the ‘on land’ scenes from the sea. It would end with a twist and that unanswerable question. Although unlikely, I do think something big should happen around the fortieth anniversary of Hounds of Love. Lots of possibilities regarding Kate Bush next year. Given how busy the last few years have been – and few of us ever expected that! -, one thing we can guarantee is that 2025 will not be quiet! I do love how this year has seen Bush interact with fans and there has been so much happening. As we head to Christmas, we will prepare for a new Kate Bush message. Some great things have come from her in 2024, so there is a lot to reflect on! The wonderful and iconic Kate Bush has reached and inspired…
A whole new legion of fans.