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An Aerial View
For more than a decade, Kate Bush has been silent. The 47-year-old British
singer-who crafted a string of much-loved art-pop albums in the 70's and
80's-took a break after 1993's The Red Shoes. Now the enchanting chanteuse is
back with an ambitious new double CD, Aerial (in stores Nov. 8). We tracked her
down at home near Reading, England, where the squawks, yelps, and boisterous
singing of her 6-year-old son, Bertie, are loudly audible in the background. His
mum fills us in on her return to her day job.
EW: So, have you actually been working on this record for the past 12 years?
Kate: I wrote the first song 9 or 10 years ago. And then I'd have a very big gap
and I wouldn't do anything again for maybe three years. Albums take me a long
time. When I got to the end of the last record I actually felt that I didn't
want to go into the studio and do another one again. It's what I'd been doing
since I was 18. I just really wanted a break. So I thought I'd take a year out,
and that year somehow turned into 12.
EW: On your new single, King of the Mountain, you seem to be suggesting that
Elvis Presley is still alive.
Kate: Yes. This is very good, because a lot of people aren't sure what the song
is about. I haven't wanted to interfere with a process that might be a bit of a
playful puzzle, which I'm very happy to encourage because I don't think there
are enough nowadays. But you seem to have got it. Well done.
EW: Why a double album?
Kate: I came up with the idea of this conceptual piece, for want of a better
word, because I don't want to call it my "symphony". [Laughs] But listening back
to it [after it was recorded], I would get to about the 3rd song and think,
"God, this is really tiring! So what's it gonna be like for people who've never
even heard it before?" I really think the best length for a contemporary album
is about 40 minutes, so I got quite excited by the whole idea of making two
discs.
EW: At one point on the new album, your son can be heard saying, "It sounds like
the birds are saying words," and then you proceed to sing in what sounds like
some kind of avian language. Do you, uh, speak bird?
Kate: [Laughs] Not yet. But I'm working on it.
EW: One of the most beautiful new tracks, Mrs. Bartolozzi, seems to be about
doing the laundry. Kate Bush does housework?
Kate: Yeah, I have spend large amounts of time doing the washing. [Laughs] Some
people find this amusing, but I actually do try to run a household, which people
find very hard to get their heads around. I can't understand that, because to me
it's perfectly normal.
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the Reaching Out (Interviews) Table of Contents
"The pull and the push of it all..." - Kate Bush
Reaching Out
is a
Marvick - Hill
Willker -
Mapes
Fitzgerald-Morris
Grepel - Love-Hounds
Presentation
