From the time she topped the charts with her swooping, swooning debut single “Wuthering Heights”, Kate Bush has been a unique—and uniquely talented—voice. When her first album came out in 1978, Kate was just 19 years old, inexperienced in the music industry but possessed of both confidence and determination. It was the young singer/composer who insisted that the first single be her song-portrait of the famous Emily Brontë novel, a choice opposed by the record company. But Kate was right. She scored an international hit as well as the distinction of being the first UK woman to take the #1 spot with a song she had written herself. Albums followed regularly, gaining critical plaudits and popular acclaim. In 2005, twelve years after her seventh album, Kate Bush released Aerial, a double album as burnished and golden as its sun-drenched cover.
Like the earlier Hounds of Love (1985) album, Aerial is divided into two halves. The first disc is “A Sea of Honey” and contains seven songs, opening with the restless “King of the Mountain”. This—the only single from the album—takes Elvis Presley as its subject. To those familiar with Bush’s esoteric or, for that matter, her sensual concerns, this is a surprise. But fear not. The lyric explores the rock icon’s afterlife, his spiritual presence and mythology. It is gently funky, engaging and slightly strange; a bit like Ms Bush herself.
This entrancing eccentricity meanders through the rest of the first record, with the second song, “∏” showing (to quote the lyric) “a complete fascination with the calculation of Pi”. Few could pull this off, but Bush does, largely due to the magic of that voice; who could have guessed that numbers are dead sexy?
“Bertie” is a song of devotion to her son, the primary reason for her sabbatical from music, while the delicious “Mrs Bartolozzi” manages to be both wistful and just a bit naughty while singing about a washing machine doing its stuff. Or is it an elegy for a lost love? With Kate Bush, a reverence for the routine is raised to art. Couple this prismatic spray of subjects with the variety of musical settings—folk here, strings there, solo with piano, some tasteful rocking—and you have a neckless of sparkling diversity; unassuming but delightful on closer inspection.
“A Sky of Honey” is a suite of songs and music filling the second record of Aerial. A journey from morning to the following dawn, this reaching, floating, surging imaginary soundtrack has all the artistry and sonic detail fans of Kate Bush love. Her concerns are humanity as it is lived in concert with nature, her songs ecstatic and mundane.
The care and richness of the music are reflected in the booklet, and seen to great advantage in the 2018 remastered albums. Photos and lyrics present an interwoven canvas, including a magic reveal that shows the mountain landscape of the front cover to be, in fact, the waveform of a blackbird’s song.
Aerial is a mature and expansive work that adds to Kate Bush’s reputation. She is an artist of individual vision and meticulous methods who finds inspiration in the enchantment of the everyday.
vinylconnection.com.au 
I loved this from the word go, its right up there with the very best, or would be if you took the one about the washing machine out. Nocturne and How to be invisible are just peerless.
Did you buy the vinyl straight away, or did you cop a reissue?
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It is Aerial.
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It is. Gold star. 🙂
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Priority #2 for the weekend, contingent on completion aking Z to the blind warehouse is
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erroneous send, but you might get the drift
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I do. GFI.
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I only know a few of Kate Bush’s songs and haven’t explored any of her albums. Based on what I’ve heard, it sounds like she would be more of an acquired taste. That said, I love her duet with Peter Gabriel, “Don’t Give Up.” Admittedly, it’s more because of Gabriel!
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Like all the most creative musicians, you do have to invest a little time and effort to breach the faerie barrier into Ms Bush’s world, Christian. But when you are called, go. 🙂
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i’ve listen to “The hounds of love” and “The Kick Inside” many times, and as usual, your review has persuaded me to listen to “Ariel.”
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This is more Hounds than Kick, Robert, but perhaps more accessible. Enjoy. 🙂
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I couldn’t really get into this one when it came out and I never really listened to it again after that. Except I think King of the Mountain was on that Director’s Cut album she made and I think I liked it better on that. The Dreaming is probably my favorite album by her cuz it’s got the most good ones on it.
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With all the music I listen to some really good stuff sometimes gets buried. Thanks for shaking the Bush for me. Man what a great groove on ‘How To Be Invisible’
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LOL. Always good to stir the foliage, CB. Always good to see your twisted little face here too. Be well, my friend.
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I settled in to Honey whilst driving. Not ideal for listening to lyrics but nice music for a trip across town.
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It’s an outstanding comeback album, particularly the exquisite second disc.
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Agreed.
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Well she’s never made a bad album and this one’s a trip
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A flight, even! 🙂
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