FEATURE:
New Room for the Life
N THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush photographed in 1981/PHOTO CREDIT: Anton Corbijn
The Prospect of Remixing Kate Bush’s Tracks
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ALTHOUGH it has been done now and then…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
it is not something that you see much. It might tie into my hope that there will be a Kate Bush project like a tribute album or a greatest hits collection. It is great when we have the studio albums reissued. It brings that music to a new audience. That is really important. Perhaps we have seen the last of the Kate Bush album reissues, even though there are big anniversaries ahead. The Sensual World this year; Hounds of Love (among others) next year. It might be a long shot to think that we’d get new editions with demos or unheard songs. What I do know is that there is so much of the original album material either undiscovered or overlooked. There is this disparity between her most streamed and heard songs and the rest. I was thinking about remixes because, aside from the fact Hounds of Love was remixed in 2012, there hasn’t really been a lot of other reversions and new takes on her songs. There are cover versions, though I would like to hear the original song remixed. I know that albums like The Kick Inside, and especially Lionheart got a bit of criticism because of the material. Perhaps not engaging enough. A little similar to The Kick Inside. A lack of a real step forward. When Bush embarked on The Tour of Life in 1979, she played every song from The Kick Inside and Lionheart, bar the former’s Oh to Be in Love. That has always baffled me. Why leave that one song out!? Almost like Bush not performing Hounds of Love’s Mother Stands for Comfort – the rest of the first half and the entirety of The Ninth Wave was performed – during 2014’s Before the Dawn, I wonder why this one song was left out. It would have been intriguing to see how she mounted and visualised this track. Anyway, I digress! What was interesting about The Tour of Life is how Bush brought these studio tracks to life.
I think it was actually one of the future/new songs, Egypt, that got one of the biggest lifts and new leases of life. The album version is on 1980’s Never for Ever. It is a great track, though some critics feel it is one of the weakest songs on the album. A bit of a turgid or filler track. It is a harsh viewpoint, yet Bush really added something to the song on the stage. I wonder why she did not bring the stage version into the studio. In a way, the stage version and album version are separate and different-sounding songs. Bush’s stage version sounds more like a remix. How the studio track got this fresh perspective. Even though there have been remixes of Kate Bush’s tracks, there has not been too much inspection and reinvigoration. Not that remixes improve a song in all cases. Not that the original album tracks need refreshing. I do feel that there is a problem with her music getting out there. Radio stations play the singles. It depends on the station. When you do hear Kate Bush tracks on the radio, they are ones you have heard. You only get a limited and narrow perspective of her work. Think about the full expanse of her music. How there are so many album tracks either never played or discussed - or only now and then. Even though Kate Bush is always relevant and has inspired so many artists through the generations, there is still a struggle fully bonding her to young generations. Th success of Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) really only brings that song and its sister album (Hounds of Love) to them. I don’t think it is a powerful enough moment to ensure that these young listeners dig deeper and sustain their curiosity. As it is, I don’t think that there is as much knowledge and awareness of Kate Bush and her legacy. So many defining her by one song or in very cliched terms. This artist being weird, reclusive or a product of the 1980s. None of that is true. How do you get her album tracks to the people?!
In the same way as Bush’s Tour of Life showed how her songs could change their shape but retain their core, I do feel that remixes would do something extraordinary. Not only would they stand as great pieces of work in their own right. It is a great way to introduce people to the original albums. Think about all the new fans of Kate Bush. Maybe only aware of her because of exposure and fresh success in 2022. Their reference point is a 1985 single so, as such, they might not wander too far. Do many listeners in their teens and twenties listen to songs from Aerial (2005), The Sensual World (1989) or even The Kick Inside (1978)?! It is hard to make those albums attractive and current/relatable to those who have not heard them or did not experience them when they were first released. Even if there are some younger listeners that will dive deep, most will skim the surface and not spend as much time with Kate Bush as you’d hope. It is not only young listeners. Even those older and long-terms fans might not know about many of the album tracks. Rather than a remix album, I do think that it would be fascinating and worthwhile if producers and artists provided their takes. Giving bigger songs and album tracks a remix. Again, as I say, it has been done before. Not a whole load of examples. Not a big enough movement to really ensure that people are listening to all albums and compelled to explore the fountainhead. I do worry that it is hard to hook and keep young listeners especially keen on Kate Bush with the original albums alone. As wonderful as they are, remixes can often shine a new light on a great song.
Think about great remixes through the decades. Rather than disguising a song and making it unrecognisable, you do get something different and fascinating. I like the idea of Kate Bush tracks getting this treatment. I can’t imagine she would object. As she is such an innovator who was always pushing herself in the studio and never produced two albums that sounded the same, I think that Bush would welcome her original songs given a fresh lick of paint. A new vision. Maybe artists like Charli XCX taking on a Kate Bush song. St. Vincent. Some amazing producers. Rather than it being covers, you would instead retain the album song. Some might feel breaking up album tracks would create an issue. Would people really go back to the album the song came from or would interest start and end at the remix?! I do think that there could be this more widespread appreciation and curiosity around Kate Bush’s music after remixes. Maybe not every album track. Instead, there would be a selection of remixes of songs from each of her nine studio albums (I am not including 2011’s Director’s Cut). It takes my mind back to the way songs dismissed on Kate Bush’s studio albums were celebrated when she performed them during The Tour of Life. Critics lauding the stage version and not really bowled over by the studio takes. I would love to see a raft of remixes. Some really good reasons to do that. A better chance of bringing in potential new fan to an entire album rather than the odd song. Seeing some of those album tracks shown in a new setting. From modern remixes to some older interpolations/remixes by, among others, Utah Saints, Kate Bush’s album tracks have largely stayed as they are. The odd special mix here and there. Not a tonne of remixes released more widely today. Tracks that are reworked are bigger tracks. I would love deeper cuts getting a remix. That could unleash and unearth…
SO much potential.