Kate Bush - Director's Cut...

Last week finally saw the release of Kate Bush's Director's Cut - a reworking/re-recording of eleven tracks from two of her previous albums; The Sensual World and The Red Shoes. It is Kate Bush's first album released since 2005's Aerial.

Director's Cut was recorded using analog equipment. Bush stated in an interview for BBC radio that she never liked the "hard-edged sound" of the digitally recorded The Red Shoes and feels both the new recordings of the songs from this album and the re-mastered The Red Shoes have a "warmer, fuller sound."

Regarding the entirely new lyrics to the song "The Sensual World," now re-titled "Flower of the Mountain," Bush said this: "Originally when I wrote the song "The Sensual World" I had used text from the end of Ulysses by James Joyce, put to a piece of music I had written. When I asked for permission to use the text I was refused, which was disappointing. I then wrote my own lyrics for the song although I felt that the original idea had been more interesting. Well, I’m not James Joyce am I? When I came to work on this project I thought I would ask for permission again and this time they said yes. It is now re-titled "Flower Of the Mountain" and I am delighted that I have had the chance to fulfill the original concept. For some time I have felt that I wanted to revisit tracks from these two albums and that they could benefit from having new life breathed into them. Lots of work had gone into the two original albums and now these songs have another layer of work woven into their fabric. I think of this as a new album."

The track-listing is as follows;-
 1. Flower of the Mountain
 2. Song of Solomon
 3. Lily
 4. Deeper Understanding
 5. The Red Shoes
 6. This Woman's Work
 7. Moments of Pleasure
 8. Never Be Mine
 9. Top of the City
10. And So Is Love
11. Rubberband Girl

I found the album really very moving - something which Bush reveals she did not intend. In fact Bush very rarely adds interpretation to her work - she prefers to leave that to the listener. She actually also doesn't really mind whether people like her work or not. Recording is very much a personal thing for her.

Apparently she's working on a new album of original material. So fingers crossed for 2014!