Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow (Nov 21st)

[Justin Reach]

Another new album from Kate for 2011:

http://www.katebush.com/news/kate-release-brand-new-album-50-words-snow-november

http://www.katebush.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/normal_size/wysiwyg_imageupload/1/50Small.jpg


“50 Words For Snow” will feature seven brand new tracks set against a background of falling snow. The total running time is 65 minutes and the track listing is:

SNOWFLAKE
LAKE TAHOE
MISTY
WILDMAN
SNOWED IN AT WHEELER STREET
50 WORDS FOR SNOW
AMONG ANGELS

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[HejiraNYC]

Another new album from Kate for 2011:

http://www.katebush.com/news/kate-release-brand-new-album-50-words-snow-november


“50 Words For Snow” will feature seven brand new tracks set against a background of falling snow. The total running time is 65 minutes and the track listing is:

SNOWFLAKE
LAKE TAHOE
MISTY
WILDMAN
SNOWED IN AT WHEELER STREET
50 WORDS FOR SNOW
AMONG ANGELS

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OMG, thanks for the news! This is the best news I've heard in a long, long time! I never could have imagined that Kate was really serious about releasing a new album so soon after The Director's Cut; she is notoriously indolent and seemingly indifferent about the rapidly ticking clock. I assume this is some kind of holiday-theme album, yet not exactly holiday-specific, which means you can listen to it in July without feeling like a tool. :lol: And the fact that it portends to be full of 10-minute songs (based on the running length/number of tracks) is so tantalizing. OMG, I really cannot wait for this. And on the Kate Bush geologic time scale, it seems like Aerial was just released yesterday.

It also just occurred to me that Kate is loopy enough to actually include all of the Eskimo (Inuit? Aleut??) words for snow in the song "50 words for snow," just like she sings the first 150+ decimals of pi on "Pi" (which I love). I'm simultaneously fantarding and geeking out.

[TrueFaith77]

It must be a cold day in Hell, but after Director's Cut (and Aerial), I'm less than stoked. :(

[wheart]

so is it a holiday/winter album??? And only 7 tracks? That kinda sucks but given Kate's infrequent output of late, I'm totally not gonna complain, although I kinda did already. And that cover...???

OK. I just noticed the running time of over an hour. I guess the 7 tracks are hefty ones

[ButterCookie]

so is it a holiday/winter album??? And only 7 tracks? That kinda sucks but given Kate's infrequent output of late, I'm totally not gonna complain, although I kinda did already. And that cover...???

OK. I just noticed the running time of over an hour. I guess the 7 tracks are hefty ones

This is my only gripe with what I know so far about this album. How can she settle for this when she has covers like Lionheart, The Kick Inside and The Dreaming in her catalogue. I don't understand :(

[wheart]

This is my only gripe with what I know so far about this album. How can she settle for this when she has covers like Lionheart, The Kick Inside and The Dreaming in her catalogue. I don't understand :(

I know!! it's bizarre. what is that a snowman kissing some half human girl? kate is still gorgeous and really should be gracing her album covers!!

[HejiraNYC]

This is my only gripe with what I know so far about this album. How can she settle for this when she has covers like Lionheart, The Kick Inside and The Dreaming in her catalogue. I don't understand :(

I think it would be difficult to assign a particularly colorful/ornate cover to an album that seems to be literally all about snow-related themes. I like this. It's totally what I expect from modern Kate- understated, a bit daft and totally original. And as a recluse, it makes total sense that she would not want to plaster her image on the cover of her albums anymore.

I do wonder about the inspiration for the song "Lake Tahoe." Has she actually visited there? Has she even been to the U.S. within the past 15 years? I know that I would absolutely have a heart attack if I was in Tahoe queueing up for the chair lift and espied Kate Bush (wearing a cute little snow bunny outfit, surely) waiting her turn to ascend the slopes.

[Pyewacket]

I think it would be difficult to assign a particularly colorful/ornate cover to an album that seems to be literally all about snow-related themes. I like this. It's totally what I expect from modern Kate- understated, a bit daft and totally original. And as a recluse, it makes total sense that she would not want to plaster her image on the cover of her albums anymore.

I do wonder about the inspiration for the song "Lake Tahoe." Has she actually visited there? Has she even been to the U.S. within the past 15 years? I know that I would absolutely have a heart attack if I was in Tahoe queueing up for the chair lift and espied Kate Bush (wearing a cute little snow bunny outfit, surely) waiting her turn to ascend the slopes.



I agree about the album cover...it takes some getting used to, but there's something quietly "off" about it...foreboding, even. And I also think she has been to Lake Tahoe...apparently the engineering for both "Director's Cut" and "50 Words For Snow" was done in Lake Tahoe, so it doesn't take much of a stretch to think she went.

Also of note: Elton John appears on the track "Snowed in at Wheeler Street" and Andy Fairweather Low on "Wild Man," the single which is available for download in less than a week!

[Dodfather]

I heard about this a few weeks ago. I actually like the cover from the pictures I've seen online. I may think differently when I actually pick the album up though. Yes, the 7 tracks must be quite long... and Steven Fry also appears on one of them?!

[wild-heart]

So, so excited for this. Apparently it's already leaked?
The new single "wild man" is released midnight on monday (UK time).

[beccamorrisfift]

So, so excited for this. Apparently it's already leaked?
The new single "wild man" is released midnight on monday (UK time).

DITTO !
Can't wait to get down to HMV to pick up my copy :D

[PolishStevieFan]

That's great news! I love some of Kate Bush's work, especially "Never For Ever" and "Hounds of Love". Her latest album was truly work of art and I expect this new one to be of the highest quality. Somehow, Kate Bush reminds me of Stevie. Her voice is so original and her songwriting is as idiosyncratic and off-beat as Stevie's. Both are mystical ladies :)

[Justin Reach]

Here's the radio edit of the new single Wild Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3BzjfAjug4

There's quite a strong Mac vibe to it.

[BombaySapphire3]

Here's the radio edit of the new single Wild Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3BzjfAjug4

There's quite a strong Mac vibe to it.

Very cool:thumbsup:I also got a "The Dreaming " vibe from it ..I am so looking forward to this album!

[BombaySapphire3]

I just heard the full length album version of this song .It is stunning and atmospheric and was clearly meant to be heard in it's entirety.It would seem Kate may be primed to pull off yet another concept masterpiece to join The Ninth Wave and A Sky of Honey.There is really no one else quite like this woman.http://breakingillusions.tumblr.com/

[BombaySapphire3]

Since she re-surfaced after her 12 year hiatus with 2005's 'Aerial', Kate Bush's output has been many things including gorgeously expansive and broad. But what it hasn't been for many years is densely surreal, qualities which characterised the best of her early work. Until 'Wild Man' that is.

Pre- 'The Red Shoes' there was an unpredictability and the sense of being a passenger into the wiles of Bush's uniquely bonkers brain. Since 'Aerial' it's been more steady, calm waters. This sonic sparseness was echoed by her lyrical conceits, which shifted away from magic realism and fantasy to elemental themes of flora, fauna and , um, washing machines.

For those of us who have been secretly longing for a return to the unflinchingly bizarre and Bush's ability to conjure up strange new worlds, 'Wild Man' is a deep joy.

Lyrically we're in a literal wilderness, where the 'Wild Man' of the title is a revealed to be a Yeti-type figure roaming the wiles of the Himalayas. Bush's whispered vocal delivery of the lyrics (which are full of geographical intrigue and century old myth) is full of the right balance of fear, intrigue and empathy towards the plight of the shadowy figure ("I can hear your cry/Echoing around the mountain side/You sound lonely," she sings).

As for the the chorus, it bursts forth mid-eruption; a choir of strange voices; echoing the 'Wild Man''s own explosion out of habitation into civilization in the narrative of the song. Bush tackles this by a multiple layering of voices, creating several personas and the atmosphere of a village set adrift by the sudden intrusion. It's a style which recalls some of her most classic work.

Musically, we've moved on subtly from the pared down production of 'Director's Cut', and on 'Wild Man' a guitar riff-plays pan-Asian and ponderous, but there's also a layering of sounds in the chorus (tinkling percussion, a bedrock of organs), which suggests her 80s heyday.

Multiple listens on, the references just keep coming; there's 'Scary Monsters And Super Creeps' era Bowie and some of the 'Tusk' era Fleetwood Mac and her own 'Sensual World' and 'The Dreaming'.

After the domestic bliss of 'Aerial', it's a deep joy to have Kate roam the narrative wiles of her imagination. The result is her strongest single for decades.

Priya Elan

[Pyewacket]

Here's a lovely (though literal) video put together by a fellow fan and friend. It's quite cool and reminiscent of her "King Of The Mountain" video. But the star, is of course, the song.

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/30397618?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/30397618">Roof Of The World</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user8819679">Sky Vibes</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

[BombaySapphire3]

Anyone know when Wild Man will be available for purchase in the US? Seems like it already is almost everywhere else.Not a first for Kate fans in the US I know.

[Pyewacket]

I've heard today it will be next Tuesday, the 18th.

EDIT: It was made available on itunes today! You have to search for Kate Bush Wild and then you'll find it.

[HejiraNYC]

It's like a mashup of "Be Kind to My Mistakes," "Rhiannon" and Pink Floyd... very trippy stuff! I'm not sure what I think of it yet, but I already love the fact that it is not like anything Kate has ever done before. And I am loving her really low register vocals on this.

[BombaySapphire3]

I loved this song from the first listen,Never having been one to call a piece of s**t a birthday cake I can honestly say that this is the most compelling piece of music I have heard this year..maybe in quite a few years.When I heard this song I felt like I was a seventeen year old kid again and listening to the Tusk album for the first time..While you can hear the influences of other artists including Fleetwood Mac it is uniquely Kate,I can only imagine how this is going to sound in digital and on a good system.Who even makes music like this anymore?It would appear that the answer to that qeustion is Kate Bush.

[HejiraNYC]

Just came across a supposedly new promo photo.

http://www.katebushnews.com/wp-content/uploads/katetibetan.jpg

I could have sworn this was a shot from the 1980s. Incredible! Looks like she shed a ton of weight since Aerial.

[BombaySapphire3]

^^^ I saw another photo from that shoot while lurking on her fan forum Homeground..Kate looks fantastic in them .She always had great bone structure.The pcitures and her wonderful new song lead me to believe she is in a period of rejuvination and creative rebirth.

[Macfanforever]

Is Kate going to get some radio airplay.Or radio is going to ditch it like Stevie's IYD cd.

[BombaySapphire3]

Is Kate going to get some radio airplay.Or radio is going to ditch it like Stevie's IYD cd.

She probably will in the UK..her lead single from her last album of all new material "King of the Mountain" went top 5 there.."Wild Man " is not really standard single fare IMO .It really needs to be heard it in it's full length version to have the full impact .It really draws you in if you allow it.

[Pyewacket]

A video I made from one of my favorite childhood cartoons...

Can you guess which one before the last credit's rolled? I omitted the title character from the storyline.

<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZvWI-AAl-E0?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZvWI-AAl-E0?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvWI-AAl-E0

[Meowi]

Scooby Doo?! :blob1:

[Pyewacket]

Scooby Doo?! :blob1:

Think greener. And taller. :)

[Pyewacket]

^ like 30 stories taller. :)





Some new snowy pictures of Kate have popped up:

[Pyewacket]

And now a four-star review from MOJO for the album. It sounds epic!!!!

(Thanks to menju at KBN&I for *typing* this up!!)


Catch her drift
Snow as a metaphor for the fragility of youth or a woman with 'a thing' for snowmen? Kate Bush's second album of the year is much more than a Christmas record, says Pete Paphides.

Kate Bush
****
50 Words For Snow

Over three decades have elapsed since Kate Bush assured us that December Will Be Magic Again. That's her immortalised on seasonal telly extravaganza Snowtime Special, writhing on a red and gold throne beside a silver Christmas tree. "Take a husky to the ice," she coos, festively, "While Bing Crosby sings White Christmas / He makes you feel nice." Within a few days, fans of the 19-year-old singer could see her playing her Christmas single again, this time on her own hour-long BBC show. But December 1980 wasn't a terribly magical one for pop fans. The song unanimously designated to celebrate Christmas that year was one that simultaneously mourned John Lennon's death. As Happy Christmas (War Is Over) sat at Number 2, the cockle-warming whimsy of Kate Bush's festive effort stalled at 29.

In the interim, everything and nothing has changed. Kate Bush long ceased to be one of those artists whose importance is gauged by mere chart positions (though it's few other artists could reach Number 2 in the album chart with a set of retooled, previously released songs, as Bush recently did with Director's Cut.) And however iconic she may have become, it's unlikely that any TV executive would schedule a Kate Bush Christmas Special in a prime time slot. Neither would the increasingly publicity-shy singer want that sort of exposure. For all of that, there's a clear line linking that seasonal offering and Bush's first album of new songs since 2005's Aerial. At 53, the thrill of seeing the world transformed by a pearlescent icy blanket is not only intact; it's the Narnian portal through which 50 Words For Snow beckons us. On Snowflake, Bush is the titular protagonist, "born in a cloud", falling over forests and "horses wading through snowdrifts" yearning to be caught. A soft, recurring piano phrase and a hook of sorts - "The world is so loud / Keep falling and I'll find you" - convey the eerie world's-end silence of fresh snowfall. Drums ape a muted crescendo of hooves in powder - a calm split by the choirboy tones of Bush's 12-year-old son Bertie - credited as Albert McIntosh.

The deeper you burrow into 50 Words For Snow, the more inclined you might feel to keep a book on Jungian analysis to hand. Over the years, Bush has refracted her sensual world through an extensive index of allegories, but this one, which encompasses all of her tenth album rings truer than all of them put together. "Roll his body / Give him eyes / Make him smile for me," she begins on Misty. But Bush's fascination with snowmen isn't the sort that can be merely sated by finding the right sort of carrot for a nose. Gentle, syncopating drums and piano dance around each other as though awaiting the resolution of the narrative's anxious fever dream. Just as Pink Floyd fans are wont to play Dark Side Of The Moon over The Wizard Of Oz, there's a version of 50 Words For Snow that cries out for the pencil-shaded world set out by Raymond Briggs in The Snowman. As with The Snowman, Misty - all 13 minutes and 49 seconds of it - details a relationship that can't possibly end well. "What kind of spirit is this?/Our one and only tryst," sings Bush, halfway through, momentarily consumed by passions of a scale she barely understands, before an achingly plaintive piano phrase portends the inherent dangers of getting too close (in every sense) to a snowman. Like women who befriend death row inmates, the intensity of this affair may be wedded to the inevitability of its ending.

Her "thing" for snowmen doesn't just stop at the sort that rely on humans to give them life. It's clear from the Himalayan wind ushering in Wild Man, that Bush doesn't find the song's subject remotely abominable. In a breathy, half-whisper, she intones, "I can hear your cry / Echoing round the mountainside / You sound lonely." Here and elsewhere, the story unfolds more like a scene from an opera than a pop song: on one hand, Bush's fascinated observer; on the other, a male chorus, seemingly voicing the excitement of explorers finding mysterious footprints. Flexing her compositional muscles, Lake Tahoe also finds Bush following her muse to a place beyond genre. A Greek chorus comprised of Stefan Roberts and Michael Wood merges exquisitely into a shimmer of strings - effectively an establishing shot for the tale of the ghostly female spectre that rises up out of "cold mountain water" and calls out for her missing dog - the same dog which returns to her now-derelict home and dreams only of finding her. Everything sounds a little looser, less meticulous than we've come to expect of Kate Bush in the high noon of her life. Unlike segments of Aerial and 1993's The Red Shoes, 50 Words For Snow sounds miraculously unburdened by its conceptual weight. Its author's obsession with sonic perfection is still evident, but - particularly in the supernaturally intuitive playing of drummer Steve Gadd - you sense a new appreciation for the "feel" more commonly found on Acoustic Ladyland albums or the later work of Talk Talk.

At this point, however, it isn't the synergy of its sidemen that has had people talking about 50 Words For Snow, but its high-profile cameos. Sir Elton John is immediately recognisable as one of two souls finally thrust together after fleeting encounters in myriad past lives Snowed In At Wheeler Street. There's tenderness in the way they alternately repeat the line, "I don't want to lose you again," and by dropping down a register, Elton has rarely sounded more soulful.

By comparison, a title track featuring Stephen Fry is a blast. You might have caught him on Q.I. last month, debunking the myth that Eskimos have 50 different words for snow, though at the time he wouldn't have been at liberty to divulge why such matters were on his mind. But, over a frenetic, cantering backdrop, complete with Bush exhorting, "Come on Joe, you got 32 more to go," there he goes, calmly meeting the challenge of coming up with his own list: "blackbird braille... swans-a-melting... eiderfalls... stellatundra... robber's veil... creaky-creaky... vanishing world."

As Fry finally alights on his final word for snow, it strikes you that this is the closest that 50 Words For Snow has edged towards something that you might hear, say, Ken Bruce back-announcing before handing over to the traffic news. Perhaps it will also compound the wider perception that Bush has finally made her Christmas album. To stick around for the conclusion is to realise that the spiritual source of these songs comes from a different place. "I can see angels around you," she sings, on the sparsely ornamented rapture of Among Angels, sounding as delirious with love as only she can. Within a snowball's throw of the winter solstice, it's hard to imagine another record scaling the lambent reverie of 50 Words For Snow. It might have taken her 31 years, but clearly, Kate Bush never forgets a promise.

Key tracks: Snowflake / Misty / Among Angels

http://www.kate-bush-archives.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/336741_10150426879249740_659249739_10334841_2108167660_o.jpg