Kate Bush

Kate Bush has never been particularly worried about being conventional. During her more than 30-year career, she's created the music she wanted, but that doesn't stop Director's Cut from coming off as a bit of a surprise. Bush's first album in almost six years finds her delving into her past, taking songs from 1989's The Sensual World and1993's The Red Shoes and recreating them using some of the original performances, but adding new vocals and, in some cases, changing them dramatically. The results are mixed. Considering the level of studio gloss and electronics the original albums possess, it's understandable why Bush would want to dust off some of these songs for another try, but she doesn't considerably improve them. Highlights include "The Sensual World," which has become truer to Bush's original vision, finally receiving permission to use text from James Joyce's Ulysses, and also the tender "Moments of Pleasure," which has been stripped right down to its bare bones. At the other end of the scale are "Deeper Understanding," featuring some very unnecessary Auto-Tune work from her son, plus "This Woman's Work," which has turned into a six-minute dirge that strips away almost all of its once magical fragility. Even with the majority of the songs emerging with their dignity intact, Director's Cut is still a misstep, sticking out in Bush's discography as her first real folly. Hopefully this means she's got this revisionist approach out of her system, as it would be a shame if she continued this tactic with the rest of her back catalogue.