The Red Shoes

The Kate Bush bonanza starts here

There are only four days to go before the release of Kate Bush's new album, 50 Words for Snow. The excitement is tangible. I completely devoured Director’s Cut earlier this year. It features reworkings of songs from The Sensual World and The Red Shoes, in generally warmer, more intimate settings. I love The Sensual World and the new versions fascinated me, but I barely knew the seven selections from The Red Shoes. A shameful secret of mine had been cruelly exposed: I did not own all her albums. No Red Shoes, and no Kick Inside. In the spirit of generating anticipation, I recently rectified this.

The Red Shoes (1993)

This album does not have a particularly strong reputation. There are fewer classic tracks than expected and the digital production is famously of its time. Maybe this is why I had been hesitant, instead choosing yet again to whip out The Dreaming and hee-haw along. In fact, much of it is great, even if things fall apart towards the end. My approach was unusual. I had only a passing knowledge of the singles (Rubberband Girl, Eat the Music), but several album tracks I seemed to know intimately after their appearance on Director’s Cut.

A rubber band hold me trousers up.

Of these, most are not too different here. And So Is Love is still beautiful and The Red Shoes still skitters about. There are sometimes extra details I enjoy, sometimes bits I miss: I pine for the mad-Kate ferocity at the end of Lily. A little disappointing is Moments of Pleasure (heresy!). I fell in love with the mellower version on Director’s Cut and I am glad I heard that version first. Here, the pace is faster and lain over the top of Kate and her piano is a showy Michael Kamen string arrangement. It is needless and too busy, distracting from the beautiful words.

I am now crazy over Rubberband Girl. A dotty lyric is matched with classic Kate Bush production (in a 1990s guise). Layers are built, with chorused voices and crooked synths. Vocals are sped up and Kate makes noises as if indeed she were a rubber band (“Here I go...!”). Whilst it doesn’t hit the emotional highs of some of her exquisite earlier singles, it is still great fun. The sound is light and brittle, but it makes me dance. Eat the Music is less engaging, seeming more cluttered and less immediate, although the lyrics are rather glorious. I wonder what fruit they might have borne if used differently, in one of her sultry, passionate pieces (think of Running Up That Hill or The Sensual World).

The weakness of The Red Shoes lies in the final few tracks. Big Stripey Lie is a pleasing racket, but Constellation of the Heart misfires (despite Bush’s usually dependable shouting crowd). Why Should I Love You? is a collaboration with Prince (Prince!). The result sounds like a throwaway pure-pop track from his early NPG era, and I regret the missed opportunity. If only they had come together five, ten years earlier. Finally, You’re the One does a little better and features the Trio Bulgarka, who had previously illuminated The Sensual World. They are criminally underused on this album.

Overall, The Red Shoes is a pleasant surprise. It contains some vintage Kate Bush and reaches joyous peaks. My love for her is long-standing and remains undimmed. Four days to go...

7.5

PS My review of The Kick Inside will follow very soon. Ta x