The Sensual World [CD]

I seem to remember my family having a copy of her first two albums when I was about five. Twenty two years ago. I think the only reason we had them was because a family friend wanted my mum to hear the poetry Ms Bush was writing. (At that time Kick Inside and Lionheart had been out for about 3 years). I was allowed to play them in the morning to stop me waking my parents up too early. Even then I loved the sound of her voice. At that age I couldn't always hear what she was singing but that didn't matter. It was the soul she put into her sound that I heard.
Fast forward thirteen years. We had lost the albums, then I heard an interview with Kate Bush on the radio about the making of Hounds Of Love. On the strength of the clips that were played, I bought the album. Then I bought her first two and the memory of their joy all came back.
However, after buying all of her back catalogue, I enjoy The Sensual World more than the rest. Believe me, I have tried.
It isn't dazzling, very ground breaking, commercial, well received, as smokin' as Kick Inside, or relentlessly original as Hounds Of Love, but there's a calm intimacy that I haven't heard anywhere else. There are a few messy songs like Love And Anger, or Between A Man And A Woman where there's a lot going on and it feels too much with the production set up for the album, but I'm nit picking really.
The other reviews I've read for this album say it's over produced, but I say she got it smack on. You feel like you're in an underground cave and the music comes to the listener across a small pool. The way the album was engineered sounds like she's sat next to you but there's a huge, deep feel to everything. A good example is The Fog and Deeper Understanding. The lyrics are at times heartbreaking, simple, very intimate, exhaultary and descriptive. The melodies they are sung with are quite simple compared to her other releases, but this is the strength of the album. The whole point. It is about quiet reflection, even in the angrier moments, but done in such a way as to sound boundless. It's not as dementedly exuberant as her other albums, but I say she does "quiet" just as well.
In the radio interview that prompted me to buy Hounds Of Love, Kate said that she was very angry during the recording of The Dreaming, and still during Hounds Of Love. You can hear that respectively, the drive and dark restless humour. There is still anger present in The Sensual World, but mellowed enough not to overtake the other aspects of the music. Just enough bite to make it all tick over with the myriad of instruments and vocals.
The result?
The best musical hug and reassurance I could have wished for.

Sounds like we have a consensus out there!

The Sensual World failed ( commercially ) to match the massive success of 'Hounds Of Love'. It's hard to know why. Maybe the time was right for that album - and who can deny that 'Running up that Hill' and 'Cloudbusting' are some of the finest singles ever. Maybe Kate just left it too long, as she often does, and the world had moved on.

The Sensual World succeeds as a great album however. It's cornerstone is undeniably 'This Woman's Work' which reliably brings tears to my eyes. I'm still not really sure what it's about - at one level Kate seems to be at the bedside of her dying mother, while on another the line 'I know you have a little life in you yet' could be about a mother to be. Genius.

Other stand outs are 'Reaching Out' about, well, reaching out - but Kate captures the beauty of such a simple, but essential gesture. 'Deeper Understanding' - about the way people are turning to technology for company is remarkably prescient and captures the mood of someone all alone,bar their computer. 'Never Be Mine' a song about regret - again executed perfectly, with some lovely fretless bass playing.

What I really like about this album is you're drawn into a different soundscape. 'Heads We're Dancing' and 'The Fog' are songs unlike anyone else's. The former is like a modern folk song - a dance with Hitler, Kate being unaware of his identity. The second a smoky misty evocation of a child's first swimming attempt really, for me captures the feeling of a river late at night.

Beautiful.

Kate Bush, they say, is like Marmite, you either love or hate her work. This album, however, gives some middle ground.
It's as accessible as her best selling Hounds of Love , but more complex,personal and lasting.
The James Joyce inspired title track is possibly her best ever.
However I think this album will be mostly remembered for the sublime "This Woman's Work"...worth the money on its own.
Other worthy notables include "The Fog" and "Never be Mine"
layered to perfection, and deeply evocative.
"Reaching Out" and " Rocket's Tail" see Kate hit the high notes
for the old fans and "Heads were Dancing" mentions Hilter!
"Deeper Understanding" inspired Prince...What more could you want? Fantastic album. 10/10.