When Graeme Thomson’s biography Under The Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush was first released in 2010, it was justifiably hailed as the definitive chronicle of Bush’s career. “Definitive” is a subjective assessment, but among the many books that had been written about Bush by then, it was easily the best-informed and most thoughtful.
After Under The Ivy was published, Kate Bush released two new albums in less than a year – a completely unexpected burst of productivity, given the 12-year gap between her two previous albums. Then, in 2014, she played a series of live shows in a London residency titled Before the Dawn – her first concert in 35 years. A revised edition of Under The Ivy in 2015 covered some of this activity, but an even more astounding event occurred in 2022. Bush’s 1985 single “Running Up That Hill” became a worldwide chart-topping hit and was streamed online more than a billion times after it was featured in the fourth season of the television series Stranger Things.
Omnibus Press’ Remastered series of reissued music biographies has given Thomson the opportunity for a third edition of Under The Ivy. This new release includes a thorough discussion of the “Running Up That Hill” phenomenon, contextualizing it amidst other recent events, such as Bush’s reissuing and remastering new editions of her earlier albums, the publication of a book of her song lyrics (2019’s How to be Invisible: Lyrics), and her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Thomson bluntly, but not wrongly, characterizes the latter as “essentially meaningless hullabaloo”.)
The challenge in writing any account of Kate Bush’s life and career is that she lives quietly, mostly out of the public eye, and those who work with her generally respect that choice. This has led to her being characterized in the media as an “airy-fairy” mystic or an “agoraphobic, security-obsessed hermit”. As Graeme Thomson’s narrative gradually makes clear, these perceptions are simultaneously true and not true. “People look at her, or a version of her,” Thomson writes, “and see many different things. Yet she remains an intriguing study in contradictions. Her physical world is largely confined, yet her imaginative universe is boundless. She likes people, yet craves privacy. She is proud of her work and wants people to hear it, yet hates selling it. Her music is both candid confession and armour-plated shield.”
Since Kate Bush signed her first recording contract in her late teens, she has been successful while rejecting the structures and expectations of the music industry. As Thomson describes, from the start, she has managed her career, written her music, produced most of her albums, worked in her studios, and maintained ownership of her recordings and musical copyrights. Some perceive that degree of control as excessive, especially as Bush and her family initially had limited experience in the industry. In the long run, however, those choices have made her financially secure and allow her to decide where and how her music is presented. She works at her own pace, and she only works on what she chooses to pursue.
However, an additional problem in chronicling Kate Bush’s work is that her music is so distinctive. One of her collaborators, quoted by Graeme Thomson, says that it can only be described as its own genre. Her music incorporates external influences – the drumming at a Stevie Wonder concert inspired Bush to create the highly rhythmic track “Sat In Your Lap” – and takes advantage of evolving technologies. At one point during the making of 1982’s The Dreaming album, Bush was so obsessed with using the Fairlight digital sampler that a musician gently suggested to her that she didn’t have to sample the sound of a pennywhistle and play it back through the Fairlight; she could just get someone to play the pennywhistle. While Bush’s music has transcended its origins, its singularity makes it problematic for a writer to describe.
Thomson addresses these complexities by drawing from multiple sources. He conducted what may be the most wide-ranging set of interviews ever done with Bush’s collaborators and friends, past and present. Combining those perspectives with contemporary press reports and his own analyses results in a portrayal that celebrates the unique beauty of Bush’s creativity while avoiding spurious speculation and remaining level-headed. Bush would be the first to admit – and indeed has admitted – that some of her work, such as the overly ambitious 1993 short film The Line, the Cross and the Curve, has fallen below the mark. Yet even when Thomson is critical of her efforts, his criticisms are reasonable and well-grounded.
When updating a previously published work, some biographers might be tempted to slap a few new chapters on the end and call it done. To Graeme Thomson’s credit, he has revised the entire text, weaving in references to her newer projects to draw out the themes such as family, sexuality, and the spiritual world that have consistently resonated throughout Kate Bush’s work. Yes, there are new chapters at the end of Under The Ivy’s third edition, but they maintain the same measured tone and careful attention to detail that made this book stand out.
The recent tenth anniversary of the 22 Before the Dawn concerts – three of which were filmed – has led to speculation whether a DVD of these shows will be released. The answer seems to be “no” since Bush reportedly was and is dissatisfied with the quality of the images. However, as someone who experienced three of those concerts, I can say that Thomson’s description of Before the Dawn is accurate, and a powerful evocation of the experience of being there. If a DVD never materializes, this section of Under the Ivy may, by default, become the most enduring account of Before the Dawn and the most convincing explanation about why it was such a stunning artistic accomplishment.
The most obvious audience for the third edition of Under The Ivy is the newer fans who were introduced to Kate Bush’s music through Stranger Things. If they wonder, as Thomson initially did, “Who is she?” then here is where to find the answers. Under The Ivy will also appeal to long-time fans, anyone who has encountered Bush’s music over the past 40 years, and anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of an incredible musical career. While Kate Bush’s work and life defy clichés and easy categorization, Graeme Thomson accomplishes the rare feat of chronicling her story while conveying its inherent ambiguity and mystery.