The infamous British songbird Kate Bush has a new video out, but not of a totally new song. Conceived and directed by Bush and produced by Michael Solinger, the “short film” was released to accompany her current single Deeper Understanding, a reworked version of the original she released on her 1989 album ‘The Sensual World.’ This revised single is from her new album ‘Director’s Cut’ due out on May 16, which contains altered material from the previously mentioned ‘The Sensual World’ (1989) and ‘The Red Shoes’ (1993) (this year EMI is also reissuing albums ‘The Dreaming,’ ‘Hounds of Love,’ ‘The Sensual World’ and ‘The Red Shoes,’ though in their original form).
This video stars Robbie Coltrane as a business man whose love affair with a singing computer-entity (played by Bush’s son, Albert) takes hold of his life, losing him his wife (Frances Barber) and family, drives him mad and causes him to kill Noel Fielding (he looks just like himself, who else could he be?—The Mighty Boosh fans rejoice!). It’s cheesy yes, but those familiar with her insanely successful music videos past know that it’s authentic Kate Bush on display; she’s nothing if not bold, dramatic, and heavy handed, using theatrically over-defined narrative in the best kind of way (see Cloudbusting featuring Donald Sutherland or Babooshka). Bush’s quirky-yet-sexy dance routines are sadly absent from this latest music video, but there are some visual effects by Ben Perrot of Destroy All Monsters and Matthias Lindahl from Fido, so we’ve got them to thank for the intriguingly retro energy ball that finds its way into Coltrane’s mouth like it was sent by Harry Potter’s Patronus charm.
We hope there are more videos to come from ‘Director’s Cut’ but we’d be even more excited for something wholly new. It’s confirmed that Bush is currently working on fresh material—though there’s no release date for this yet—and she hinted at a potential return to live shows in her recent interview, the first in five years, with MOJO Magazine. This last tidbit is particularly exciting as Bush’s only tour took place 2 April – 13 May 1979, with following performances few and far between. We’re praying for a concert in tandem with a release of new work because, well, Bush is simply one of the most talented and significant musicians of the last few decades.
At the young age of 19, she was the first woman to top the UK charts with a self-written song, as well as the first female with a No. 1 album in the UK. In the eight albums following, Bush continued to top the UK album charts and boasted twenty-five Top 40 hit singles—but it wasn’t just the charts that showed her sway, Bush is one of the most influential figures in music, known for her inspired creation of a sound that was shockingly unique and original, springing from her fully-formed like Athena from the head of Zeus. While it has been impossible for female musicians since not to be compared to Bush, her influence reaches far beyond the sphere of “female” music. Her aesthetic helped define melodic as much as electronic music and her impact is not bound to end anytime soon; her contemporary progeny span multiple genres, from the likes of Florence Welch all the way to Com Truise.
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