FEATURE:
Bonnie and Clyde in the Spotlight
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in an outtake from the Hounds of Love album cover shoot in 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
Are There Plans Around Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love for 2025?
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I was going to hang off…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1985
writing about Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love for a bit. The album was released on 16th September, 1985. I will write about its title track, as that was released as a single on 17th February, 1986. I want to mark its thirty-ninth anniversary. The fortieth anniversary of Hounds of Love happens in September. It will be massive. Of course, I am going to write about it a lot closer to the time. There are so many angles to approach. Unlike many major artists, Kate Bush does not reissue her albums when they celebrate big anniversaries. Expanded editions, unheard songs or extras. Giving them a new lease of life and uncovering gems that were not released on the original. However, Hounds of Love has been reissued a few times. It has been remastered and the special editions have been nominated for GRAMMYs. The Boxes of Lost at Sea edition and The Baskerville Edition. Bush and her son Albert have been nominated. If Bush wins then she will get her first GRAMMY. It is amazing that a career as long and successful as her has seen this absence. Plenty of awards in the U.K. but not really in the U.S. I am interested how people approach Hounds of Love ahead of its fortieth anniversary. I guess we will know what is planned around August. Maybe Bush will speak about the album. I have speculated as to how her 1985 masterpiece could expand for the screen. I have pitched a film, The Ninth Wave, that visualises the second side to the album. Maybe a reissue of the album that has extras. Maybe Under the Ivy, the B-side for Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). Will there be podcasts, documentaries or tributes to the album? Is Bush going to conduct an interview around that album?
When I woke up yesterday (11th January), I was checking out the Kate Bush News Instagram feed. There was this excitable post that seems really intriguing. There will definitely be something out around the fortieth anniversary of Hounds of Love in September. However, Kate Bush News seem to suggest something is already brewing:
“2025 is the 40th anniversary of...dammit...these dogs just won't settle down...okay...bear with us...something is happening this year...well, at least she's still smiling....stay tuned in the months to come...we have a lot to unpack. Aaargh...now they're eating the purple tulle...where's the other dragon earring?.....ooof...break time!! Lets just exhaust them, take them for another walk...we'll try again in 20 minutes....no, Kate, it'll be fine...we're almost there....no, really...who are we kidding, this'll never work.....”.
People have speculated whether there will yet another reissue of Hounds of Love. I suppose we have had a few versions or attempts to get the album into the hands of new listeners. Might Bush actually open the archives and give us some demos or unreleased tracks?! there will be an exclusive interview with Kate Bush? Unfortunately, it is unlikely there will be a documentary or film around The Ninth Wave. Or the album itself. Perhaps BBC Radio 4 might commission something. It is all up in the air at the moment. Kate Bush News clearly have something planned or they have access to news. I don’t think they are using Hounds of Love to suggest Bush is releasing new music soon. It would seem inconsequential or weird. Their post must be related to Hounds of Love. Something special is happening.
I do think we will get an announcement later in the year that Kate Bush is releasing her long-awaited eleventh studio album. I would be surprised if we went through 2025 without new music. However, there is this massive album that has a big anniversary approaching. I want to do something to mark it too. However, Kate Bush News are excited! They want to tell us what is coming but have to be secretive at the moment! However, what can it be?! We will have to wait, though I am not sure whether they would have early access to a reissue of the album with demos, unreleased tracks or anything like that. I cannot see Bush wanting anything from the archives out into the world. She has done a lot of reissuing and retrospection so would she go down that path? Even so, she loves Hounds of Love so you cannot rule it out. I look at the iconic cover – shot by her brother John, featuring her dogs, Bonnie and Clyde – and I know fans would pay anything to get some gems. More around this iconic album. Perhaps there is a bigger project happening. A live event. I have thought that it would be good to see the entirety of Hounds of Love performed. She did perform most of the album for Before the Dawn in 2014. Maybe anniversary live dates. Bush has not dismissed the option of more live work in the future. A live show where people are chatting about Hounds of Love and there is are special guests coming together. This year is going to be an exciting one regarding all things Kate Bush, I can feel! Fans are already getting excited about what might come. In the coming months we will get clarity regarding this cryptic post. I for one cannot wait to see…
WHAT emerges.