KATE BUSH

(UNITED KINGDOM)

NEVER FOR EVER

(1980)
LABEL:

EMI

GENRE:

ROCK

TAGS:
Easy-Listening, Female vocals, High-pitched vocals, Hovering, Theatrical
""Never for Ever" adds dreamlike and phantasmagorical dimensions to the delicate writing and interpretation of the previous albums. Kate Bush's best album?"
CORTO1809 (26.10.2016)  
5/5
(0) opinions (0) comment(s)
The two albums that preceded "Never for Ever" had a strong family resemblance. Logical ! Their titles had been selected in the 200 (!) compositions that Kate Bush held in reserve, and the team that surrounded her - producer and musicians - was more or less the same. For "Never for Ever", Kate Bush took a new step by actively participating in the production of the album. She had regretted the brevity given to this stage on the previous records, preventing her from indulging in some experiments that were dear to her heart. This new opus gives her the opportunity to make up for it.

And the whimsical young woman will not stop surprising us with her amazing creativity. If "The Kick Inside" and "Lionheart" were already albums rich in refined compositions, "Never for Ever" adds to the delicacy of Kate Bush's writing and interpretation dreamlike and phantasmagorical dimensions that take the record out of the pop/rock category in which its predecessors were classified.

However, her first song could not be more FM calibrated: 'Babooshka' is an extremely catchy track, between this mutinous and acidulous singing which belongs only to Kate Bush, an addictive melody with a catchy chorus, the original orchestration and the numerous sound effects which embellish the track.

But 'Babooshka' is the tree that hides the forest, and 'Delius' which is linked to it presents a very different mysterious atmosphere, where low male voices echo the high vocals of the singer, contributing to the strange charm of the track. This atmospheric character is also found on 'Egypt', whose long instrumental finale, which shatters the structure of a simple song, mixes the fleeting flutters of a synthesizer with bird calls and anguished choirs, and on the delicate 'Infant Kiss', which is followed by the short 'Night Scented Stock', which is only made of dreamy and airy choirs sung by Kate Bush.

If 'Blow Away (For Bill)', silky and seductive, is the title which is most similar to the previous albums, the disorientation is assured with 'All We Ever Look For', between its carefree male whistle and the orientalizing melody of a koto. 'Violin' is the most rocking track the singer has created so far, but it is completely hijacked by a crazy vocal performance, the voice making the big gap between low notes of a contralto and high notes of a soprano. And if 'The Wedding List', 'Army Dreamers' and 'Breathing' seem to respect more the conventions of "simple" songs, they multiply nevertheless the mini breaks and the surprises avoiding any linearity.

It must be said that in addition to the numerous samples and male voices that dot the record, the instrumentarium is particularly open. A glance at the contributions of "brother" Paddy Bush is eloquent: balalaika ('Babooshka'), sitar ('Delius'), koto ('All We Ever Look For'), psalterion ('Egypt'), harmonica and musical saw ('The Wedding List'), banshee voice ('Violin'), mandolin ('Army Dreamers'), a whole panoply of exotic instruments completed by the bodhrán, timbales, violin, bass lyre and viola da gamba of the other musicians. This extreme diversity contributes to an open and intelligent orchestration that transcends the chiseled compositions.

As for Kate Bush's interpretation, it is once again dazzling. By turns seductive, melancholic, detached, ironic, romantic, completely off-key or dreamy, her voice plunges the listener into a protective and soothing cocoon, certainly melancholic, but of an infinite delicacy. "Never For Ever" remains one of Kate Bush's best albums.

TRACK LISTING:
01. Babooshka (03:20)
02. Delius (Song Of Summer) (02:51)
03. Blow Away (For Bill) (03:34)
04. All We Ever Look For (03:48)
05. Egypt (04:12)
06. The Wedding List (04:15)
07. Violin (03:15)
08. Infant Kiss (02:50)
09. Night Scented Stock (00:51)
10. Army Dreamers (02:58)
11. Breathing (05:29)

LINEUP:
Kate Bush: Chant / Piano / Synthétiseur (1,4) / Choeurs
Ian Bairnson: Invité / Voix (2)
Adam Sceaping: Invité / Viole De Gambe (8)
Alan Murphy: Guitares / Invité / Basse Acoustique (10) / Choeurs (10)
Andrew Bryant: Invité / Choeurs (4)
Brian Bath: Guitares / Invité / Choeurs (6,10)
Del Palmer: Invité / Basse (3,5,6,7)
Duncan Mackay: Invité / Synthétiseur (4,10)
Gary Hurst: Invité / Choeurs (1,4)
John Giblin: Invité / Basse (1,11)
Joseph Sceaping: Invité / Lyre Basse (8)
Kevin Burke: Invité / Violon (7)
Larry Fast: Invité / Synthétiseur (11)
Max Middleton: Invité / Fender Rhodes (1,3,5,6,11) / Minimoog (5) / Arrangement De Cordes (3,6)
Mike Moran: Invité / Synthétiseur (5)
Morris Pert: Invité / Timbales (4) / Percussions (11)
Paddy Bush: Invité / Balalaika (1)/sitar (2)/koto (4)/psalterion (5)/harmonica (6)/scie Musicale (6)/mandoline (10)/voix
Preston Heyman: Invité / Percussion (2,4,5,6)
Roland: Invité / Percussions (2)
Roy Harper: Invité / Choeurs (11)
Stuart Elliot: Invité / Batterie (1,11) / Bodhrán (10)
The Martin Ford Orchestra: Invité / Orchestre De Cordes (3,6)
   
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