Kate Bush – “Aerial” (2005)

The quintessential comeback album, Aerial can successfully boast of being Kate’s best album in 20 years, going all the way back to Hounds of Love. I find that’s often an overused claim, but in this case, she only released two albums during that span, including none since 1993. But it also helps that Aerial is indeed a very good album, and one that manages to sound only like Kate Bush while not really resembling any of her earlier records all that much. Instead, much to my delight, her lengthy hiatus seems to have successfully cured her of any attempts to stay commercially relevant and instead follow her muse. It also avoids the potential trap of trying to simply rehash her most acclaimed albums, since in Kate’s case, doing so wouldn’t really make any sense anyways given that the whole point of those albums was how wonderfully odd and unique they were.

So what does Aerial sound like? Well, it is largely built around the piano, so it does hearken back to her early work in that sense. Yet it also is clearly the work of an older and more mature artist, with a more relaxed, lush feel and largely normal vocals. There’s no pixie singing or piercing screams to be found here. She still makes use of keyboards and strings, but unlike on her last couple albums, the string work is actually classy (a great example being “Bertie” with rich, understated strings to go along with classically picked guitar). In large part, the music is not so easily dated, which is a major plus.

Yet even if her performances here are understated and there is very little of the operatic diva left, Bush still retains her love of fantasy and playing characters. Thus, Aerial is divided into two suites, similar to Hounds of Love, though in this case, it’s two separate discs, entitled A Sea of Honey and A Sky of Honey, making this Kate’s first double album. And it’s these eccentric, but fully realized fantasies that ultimately connect Aerial to her earlier work. Who else but Kate would make a song called “Pi” where periodically throughout the song, she indeed sings digits of pi? Or “Mrs. Bartolozzi,” about performing domestic duties (with a chorus of “Washing machine”)? Even if “Mrs. Bartolozzi” is really about Kate’s life away from music, as some critics have speculated, it still maintains a slightly fantastic mood. The second disc is more obviously conceptual, as there are no breaks in the music, and recurring motifs of birdsong as well as lyrical themes.

Overall, for a double album, I’m impressed by how even Aerial is. Perhaps it’s due to the conceptual unity, but there is no filler here whatsoever. It’s much more laid-back and chill than her earlier work lacking both the insanity of her early albums and even the vocal theatrics of her last couple. But Kate is still a compelling singer and imbues all of these songs with her personality. At its best, she captures a relaxed, earthy mood while also transporting the listener into her fantasy world of birds, art, and mathematics. On the second disc, I’m particularly taken by the lush textures of “An Architect’s Dream” and the haunting bass of “Somewhere in Between.” But really, it’s enjoyable all the way through. It did take me some time to absorb and let it come to me on its own terms, because there are no immediately stunning moments. But overall, Aerial is a definite success and well worthy of the title of ‘comeback album.’