Kate Bush - "Sensual World" (1989)

It was through this album I discovered Kate Bush, an artist who then became one of my favourites. I was 17 years old and lived for a year as an exchange student in Ohio, 1989-90. The song Love And Anger was played regularly on MTV and I found it quite good, but since a lot of other stuff also was played on MTV I moved on. Back home in Sweden I found the album for sale, and the memory of Love And Anger made me buy it, a bit of a chance. I had no idea who Kate Bush was, really.

At this time you could go to the Uppsala City Library and visit their music room. There were thousands of albums to choose from and listen to, sitting in nice sofas with comfy earphones. A lot of great music has entered yours truly’s ears in this room.

Since I found Sensual World pretty good, I checked out some of Kate Bush's earlier works in this music room and liked what I heard. Fairly quickly, I had all of her records at home and since then she has followed me through life. All thanks Sensual World.

Sensual World was Kate Bush's sixth album and it feels like it was recorded quite late in her career, but she was actually just 31 years old when it was released. Many haven’t even started a career then. Looking at the opening song, the title track, Kate was inspired by James Joyce's book Ulysses. I can’t recall reading it, which I suspect is a major gap in my literary education based on how important everyone seems to think it is, so I have no idea of its plot. But the song is good.

As usual with Kate, Sensual World contains a lot of good songs, and some a bit boring. Love And Anger has always been a favourite of mine, danceable, happy and energetic. On guitar we hear David Gilmour, the man who helped Kate in the beginning of her career, and who has since then been by her side at times. Love And Anger is followed by one of Kate’s most suggestive, mystic and evocative songs, The Fog. It's a song that sucks you right in to a… fog?

 

 

The B-side opens up with Deeper Understanding which is about a person's relationship with his/her computer, a relationship that seems to be more important than the relationship to people. Maybe Kate saw the future and what awaited with Internet, Facebook and vinyl blogs. A good song although I'm not really fond of the chorus’ electronic voice.

On the album’s most bombastic number, Rocket's Tail, the Bulgarian ensemble Trio Bulgarka is given a lot of room, which is positive. They can also be heard on two other songs on the record. The album ends with the beautiful and calm This Woman's Work, which gets even the most hard-hearted tears in their eyes. As usual, Kate manages the piano.

 

Compared to Kate's earlier albums Sensual World does pretty good. It’s more accessible than her previous records, for better or worse. In many of the songs Kate sings with a much softer voice than usual, yes, one might even call it sensual. The sound is in general quite soft and it is a well produced album, Kate herself is the producer. I have a little bit harder to feel a wholeness when it comes to Sensual World compared to Kate’s earlier records. Instead there are a list of individual songs, of which each one is good, but the album itself looses some concerning the overall experience. In any way, it’s a good album and might be a good starting point to check out Kate Bush and her work. Sensual World lays one step closer to the commercial music on the charts than her previous records, but not too close. A little less art rock and a bit more pop.

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. The Sensual World 3:53
2. Love And Anger 4:42
3. The Fog 5:01
4. Reaching Out 3:11
5. Heads We’re Dancing 5:15

Side B

1. Deeper Understanding 4:40
2. Between A Man And A Woman 3:29
3. Never Be Mine 3:42
4. Rocket’s Tail 4:03
5. This Woman’s Work 3:31