In 1978, Kate Bush's voice first shook the pop world, sending seismic waves of influence that are still felt today. Despite her distaste for media attention and a rather, ahem, laidback release schedule, Bush's emotionally intense and off-kilter pop continues to capture the imagination of artists.
In recent years, Bush has become one of the most referenced names in music. First, a few boy bands from Sunderland helped make Kate cool again – Field Music, the Week That Was, and most prominently, the Futureheads with their refreshing take on Hounds of Love.
Then a wave of solo female artists followed – from Florence Welch toFever Ray – all happy to namecheck Bush as an influence. Before Florence and the Futureheads, however, Deborah Withers, guitarist with Bristol's Drunk Granny, began a study of Bush's music, exploring themes that were perhaps obvious to a female fanbase but invisible to some male listeners. We're talking about "the polymorphously perverse Kate, the witchy Kate, the queer Kate, the Kate who moves beyond the mime". Withers develops these ideas in her new book, Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory, published on her own imprint Hammeron Press.
Drawing from feminism and contemporary philosophy, Withers attempts to unlock the secrets of Bush's oeuvre. She argues that Bush liberated female creativity as much as punk did; it's essential reading for 21st-century grrrls. It wasn't just that Bush wrote and produced her own material, breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry, or the way she sang about subjects that women were not supposed to touch.
Bush's music seems to have a womb-like function, providing incubation for artists, at least for a while. Björk has spoken of her teenage years spent under the covers listening to Kate Bush, and Bat for Lashes' Natasha Kahn acknowledges her influence on her first album, although she now feels she has found her own voice. "It's important to have visible and creative examples that you can draw inspiration from," says Withers, "otherwise it's really difficult to express yourself. Women found it a lot more difficult to be cultural producers, but Kate Bush changed that."
- The Guardian.
