THE SENSUAL WORLD

It took Kate Bush a few years to make her next album after the masterpiece Hounds of Love (1985), and when The Sensual World (1989) came out, it seemed like her finest creative era was left behind. Nevertheless, I do enjoy that album, unlike most of the material on its follower Red Shoes (1993). The opening title track was the first song to be released as a single, preceding the album by a month.

One really could describe 'The Sensual World' as a sensual song, especially when the lyrics and vocals are concerned. Inspired by Molly Bloom's soliloquy at the end of the legendary novel Ulysses by James Joyce, it's full of woman's erotic desire ("mmmm, yes..."). The music is modernly produced soft pop with a strong folk flavour, slightly comparable to latter-day Clannad. Uillean pipes played by Davy Spillane are (is?) the leading melodic instrument. The beautiful, fairytale-like music video shows Kate dancing her way through a forest. The single peaked at No. 12 on the UK Single Chart and certainly was a crucial factor in the album's fairly good commercial success.

In 1989 I had already shifted from vinyls to cd's, so luckily my freshly bought copy of The Sensual World had the bonus track 'Walk Straight Down the Middle', the B side song here, which I have always been fond of. In my opinion there's a rare, magical, dream-like atmosphere in this song, but this feeling isn't necessarily shared by all listeners. Maybe I, at the age of 19, did have some feverish dream that I somehow linked with this song, and therefor the sense of a dream stuck with me.

The Sensual World album as a whole is a bit uneven, but these songs are among the finest: 4+ stars.