50 Words for Snow

Kate Bush

Kate Bush is having quite a comeback in 2011. Earlier this year she released Director’s Cut, which was a re-recording of select songs from her 1989 album The Sensual World and her 1993 album The Red Shoes. However, 50 Words For Snow – an album dedicated to the winter season - is Bush’s first new material since 2005’s Aerial.

50 Words For Snow is best viewed as poetry. Each poem tells a different story more than anything. The album also generally adheres to a slow tempo with one formula: acoustic piano complimented by light drums in the background for most of the tracks. This adds to the poetry effect that Bush creates. The album’s opener, “Snowflake” mostly sticks to the piano while we hear the tale of a snowflake as it falls from the sky toward the Earth. Next is “Lake Tahoe,” an eerie piece about a woman who drowns in the titular lake and is calling for her dog to join her. Not in a morbid sense. From there we move on to “Misty,” which is a heartbreaking story of a woman who has a romantic one-night encounter with a snowman, only to find that he has melted next to her the following morning. What seems like a corny premise ends up being quite moving. I give full credit to Bush for making the listener feel her pain and sorrow of losing him.

“Wild Man” provides the first uptempo track of the album in which Bush recounts various sightings of the abominable snowman and urges him to remain on the run from villagers’ wrath. From there, we go back into the heartache that is “Snowed in at Wheeler Street.” Here Bush sings a duet with Elton John (hell yeah!) about an two people in love who meet up throughout history, but lose each other shortly after they reconnect. Their story is tragic and is painfully relatable. The album closes on a lackluster note with “50 Words for Snow” and “Among Angels.” The titular track picks up the tempo again, but is more of a spoken-word poem than a song in which guest vocalist Stephen Fry describes snow 50 times in multiple languages. “Among Angels” ends the album on an inspiring note, but it isn’t as powerful as some of the more grim tracks on the album.

Bush is able to really grab the listener and tell compelling stories through her minimal yet powerful 7 tracks (though the album does clock in at a little over 1 hour). She is best when she’s evoking sorrow and heartache and that’s where the album really shines. After a six-year hiatus, it’s good to see her back in the fold.

Recommended tracks: “Snowflake”, “Misty”, “Snowed in at Wheeler Street”