Winter Music4 Out Of 5 Stars
Grey skies, swirling flakes, choir-boy son. In "50 Words for Snow," her first new collection of songs in eight years, Kate Bush pulls herself in a cold cloak of moody introspection that seems perfect for brooding on the shortest days of the year. The CD clocks in at a dreamy hour, with songs stretching as long as 13 minutes. Themes drift in and out, establishing themselves but never pulverizing you. "The World is so loud," she quietly intones on the opening song, "but keep falling, I'll find you." This is no "Running Up That Hill." "50 Words for Snow" takes its time to accumulate.
That may make it tough going for some listeners. Some of the songs here take on a classical, even operatic quality (comparisons to Tori Amos' recent "Night of Hunters" sprang to mind on my first listen) to many of the songs. There's also nothing here that ropes you in on a first listen. Kate is exploring a sensual world here, and it moves in slowly. Still, there are two moments of pure oddness here. On "Snowed In At Wheeler Street," Kate may have drawn the absolute weirdest vocal performance out of Elton John's career, and on the title track, Stephen Fry drily keeps giving his 50 words, each phrase becoming increasingly odder as the song goes on. All the while, Kate is egging him on, singing "come on now, you've got 32 to go!" With its bubbly synth gliding underneath, it's the most likely song to become remixed into a single.
Then again, despite the melancholy, cold feeling to the disc, "50 Words For Snow" contains songs about making love to a snowman ("Misty") and possibly getting it on with Bigfoot ("Wild Man"). Chilly or not, you never know what to expect when it comes to Kate Bush. I'm more than willing to sit by with a cup of hot cocoa and see where the seasons take her.
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