“Snowflakes” is equally hypnotic as it is touching with a specific piano riff and hushed, muted and warm percussion lightly fumbles around the background. Interestingly it features (and opens with) her son Bertie singing beautifully. You can hear her nuances in his vocals and it fits together beautifully as a duet. Veering off to a jazz edge is the dischordant “Lake Tohoe” which seems to thrive in the opening few minutes with off-key moments and clashing vocals over soft piano and light dustings of electronics simmering away in the background. When the string ensemble arrives is when the song really comes together for me however with a perfect blend of humming and strings.  Kate’s vocal’s have deepened and now feel quite sultry here. “Misty” completes the piano heavy jazzier trio that open the album with a simple melody, hushed vocals and as with the previous two, a lack of urgency and a take-my-hand warmth feels yours ears and heart. It’s strange how sometimes doing less makes everything feel like much more. The strings are used sparingly, as are the electronics in the background but you’re aware they’re there. Finally the track breaks into a more climactic ending with subtle guitar and Kate finally breaking out of her hushed tones to release her full voice upon us. It’s a wonderful section.

“Wild Man” is the most commercial track on the album (which is saying a lot about the rest) and in its seven minute entirety the infectious guitar riff is just as powerful and hypnotic but the single is bookended by an atmospheric opening and an additional verse at the end. “Snowed in at Wheeler Street” has a background almost tampura like chord which instantly harks me back to Aerial’s Disc 2. Add to this Elton John popping up playing the part of a lover in what is almost like a conversation in music. It’s typically unique and as anti song structure as possible – yet it makes perfect sense. This is the first track on the album that seems particularly downcast and blue.

Going into the more wilder side of Kate is the title track “50 Words for Snow”. Kate’s vocal’s count 1 through to 50 through a filter that sucks the life out it while Stephen Fry lists off the words! Think Aerial’s title track’s song structure and you’re part way there. It’s the most upbeat of the tracks and most interesting arrangement with lots of wind samples and weird warping whooping sounds. For the chorus Kate then tells us all how many words are left to be told! It’s by far my favourite track on the album. “Among Angels” closes the album in a beautiful way almost like the closing of a season with some delicate piano and vocal travels.

“50 Words For Snow” did not hit me on first listen aside from the single and the title track. Everything else is very long-winded and although it’s full of wisdom and emotion, it lacks the immediate punch to hook you. My interest was more than piqued however and I wanted to go back and rediscover the songs again that I didn’t immediately want to place on repeat. Suddenly like sections in the songs made sense, they formed songs within songs. Then it clicks. Like Aerial, its one that you need to sit through from start to finish to completely appreciate. On their own, the tracks are beautiful, together, they weave a season of winter chills, hearty spills and the warmth of music and language combined in one of the best examples I’ve heard for a winter album.

Snowflake

Lake Tahoe

Misty

Wild Man

Snowed in at Wheeler Street

50 Words for Snow

Among Angels

Opening with “Flower of the Mountain”, this is The Sensual World with new lyrics from James Joyce’s Ulysses. The whole song has lost its percussive edge and has been transposed into a more soothing, purring number. Also tinkered in the same way is “Song of Solomon” which is still beautifully presented with the backing vocals pushed right to the front as are the Trio Bulgarka which is no bad thing at all. “Lily” however is one of the few songs that packs more of a punch as Kate flows with ab-libs towards the end and the arrangement becomes more of a band effort with more clarity and thus not feeling so drowned in reverb.

“Deeper Understanding” takes the stripping back to a new extreme and see’s Kate getting some fun out of the auto-tune. This is one of the more radical reworkings and seems to have polarised people already. If you’re not a fan, then stick to the original – this is simply an alternative version, not to replace it. I personally think it emulates the whole coldness of online dating… but maybe that’s because this reviewers been trying it for a while and had no joy. The last two minutes of ad-libbing and mouth organ is pure Bush fun. “The Red Shoes” has been given a party edge to it with Kate rasping the lyrics out. It doesn’t feel quite like a barn dance this time but more like a pub classic as the song progresses and things become more like a right royal p*ss up!

Another massive reworking happens for “This Womans Work”. I’ve seen a lot of people upset with this reworking. To me this stripped down electric piano and vocal led version sounds like how Kate would play it live. The original is like an enraged cry when you can’t keep it in, this version packs more sorrowful tears like it’s the cry you have after when you stare into space. For this, they feel like two completely separate songs and I’ll happily have them both and place them at the top tier of Kate’s work. Stunning. Equally as beautiful is the reworked “Moments of Pleasure” which to me sits hand in hand with the previous track and “A Coral Room”. Pulling the song back to an emotional piano/vocal track with deliberate pauses, it takes its time as it gently wades through its memories. It genuinely feels like she’s recounting everything in real-time to the song. Gone are the choruses which are replaced by a montage of hums. Again, unrecognisable, this feels like a brand new song.

“Never Be Mine” is given a more band effort as guitars and piano take to the fore while the chorus itself has a completely different delivery. It feels like a different track with the stripped down route again working its magic vocally and while I enjoy this version, the original is possibly my favourite song from Kate Bush and so it doesn’t quite compare for me. I’d still happily pop back to listen to this version though. “Top of the City” has had its percussion completely jigged about and it makes the big sections almost feel like a broadway show! The jury is out on me for this one as it really changes the songs dynamics. It’s grown on me with each listen however so maybe it’s because of being so familiar to the previous version.

“And So Is Love” is possibly the least tampered with track on the album. Changing the lyrics from “life is sad and so is love” to “life is sweet and so is love” amongst others changes the song from depressive to slightly depressive. Aside from that, the excellent guitar solo’s are pushed right up to the front of the track and its great to hear it in its full glory. The final track “Rubberband Girl” is the most radical change turning it into a hillbilly twanger! It sounds like a demo – Kate’s vocals are muffled and all over the shot in places.

Go into Directors Cut with no expectations about how you envisaged the reworks to sound and I think that’ll make the experience much more pleasant. If you can treat everything as separate and of its own merit – great. If not, rest assured she is tinkering away with new music as we speak!

“This is the first ever in-depth study of Kate Bush’s life and career. “Under the Ivy” features over 70 unique and revealing new interviews with those who have viewed from up close both the public artist and the private woman: old school friends, early band mates, long-term studio collaborators, former managers, producers, musicians, video directors, dance instructors and record company executives. “Under the Ivy” undertakes a full analysis of Bush’s art. From her pre-teen forays into poetry, through scores of unreleased songs. Every crucial aspect of her music is discussed from her ground-breaking series of albums to her solo live tour. Her pioneering forays into dance, video, film and performance. Combining a wealth of new research with rigorous critical scrutiny, “Under the Ivy” offers a string of fresh insights and perspectives on her unusual upbringing in South London, the blossoming of her talent, her enduring influences and unique working methods, her rejection of live performance, her pioneering use of the studio, her key relationships and her gradual retreat into a semi-mythical privacy.”

At least the title sounds promising!