Whatever happened to Kate Bush’s ‘new album’?
In 2024, speaking as part of a hyper-rare interview, Kate Bush said she was “very keen” to make a new album – so where is it?
Two years ago, Bush told the BBC, “I’ve got lots of ideas… it’s been a long time.” And when she says “a long time”, she really means it. The last time the world received a new record from Kate Bush was in 2011, 15 years ago. The artist is no stranger to long breaks, as Aerial in 2005 was her first album in 11 years after stepping away to raise her young son, Bertie. But this most recent gap has been her longest yet, and for much of it, fans had begun to accept that we might never hear new music from her again.
At a few points during that gap, there have been signs of life, though. In 2014, she performed an incredible 22-date residency at Hammersmith Apollo. The live show wasn’t just a career-spanning return, but it was a three-part theatrical extravaganza that features a hits section as well as a full stage production of Hounds of Love’s ‘The Ninth Wave’, and Aerial’s extended ‘An Endless Sky of Honey’.
It was a full-scale production with actors, dancers and even a cameo from her son, who she credited for giving her the courage to take to the stage again. But since then, basically nothing.
All we’ve been given is some remasters here and there. We got a few box sets, a book of lyrics, and a couple of previously unreleased old tunes like ‘Humming’. In 2023, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but didn’t attend the ceremony, making it so that no one had even seen Bush in the flesh for close to a decade. Even in 2022, when her song ‘Running Up That Hill’ hit number one thanks to its use in Stranger Things, even that didn’t coax her out or entice her into a comeback.
The only hope fans ever got was in 2024, when, after releasing a short animated film for War Child, Bush did a few rare written and phone interviews. She said she was “very keen to start working on a new album when I’ve got [the film] finished,” adding, “I’m really looking forward to getting back into that creative space.”
However, it’s been a while now, and there hasn’t been a single whisper of anything.
So, are we still getting a new Kate Bush album?
The only real answer to this question is simply, who knows?
The lack of any further information and the time that has passed would lead the cynical to believe that it’s dead in the water. But, Bush herself has always been open about the fact that her process isn’t a quick one.
“It’s very frustrating the albums take as long as they do…I wish there weren’t such big gaps between them,” she said in 2011. Even during the height of her career, when she was her most present and active, records would take about two or three years on average from the last release, so from 2024 to today, the timescale isn’t dissimilar.
There’s also the fact that, given her years and years of privacy, I highly doubt she would randomly decide to become more public-facing or provide updates on her every move and whether those moves include hitting the studio. Chances are, any new album would be made just like Aerial and 50 Words For Snow were, building it in her private home studio before maybe sneaking into Abbey Road for some final masters.
I’d also expect it to arrive like 50 Words For Snow did, with no previews and no warning. If we are to get another Bush album after such an extended stretch of happily living a quiet and private life, I doubt it would come with any build-up fanfare, but would land as a surprise.
But all of it is a guessing game. Fans can only cross their fingers and hope.
