Kate Bush is coming back – but don't expect another 'Running Up That Hill'

i amIs music just a young man's game? Take a look at the streaming charts on any given day, and you might think that's self-evident. Many of the biggest singer-songwriters around at the moment – Chappelle Rhone, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo – are still in their early or mid-twenties. Taylor Swift is treated like a seasoned veteran, someone whose career spans 11 distinct eras at the grand old age of, um… 34. Where does this leave all the real veterans?

On Friday, Kate Bush, the elastic-voiced singer-songwriter behind “Wuthering Heights,” revealed that she plans to return to music after more than a decade away from the spotlight. Bush's last live performance was in 2014 (a residency at the Hammersmith Apollo), and his last new record was three years ago (2011's 50 words for snow)

At his peak, Bush was an artist of rare talent, making rock music that was thoughtful and spiky and weird. He had a voice that crystallized in a singular, iridescent falsetto leaping across the octave from a steady start. There was no one else like him, not yet. So it's a good job he's back: In an interview with BBC Radio 4 today On the program this morning, Bush said he was pursuing “a lot of ideas” for new music “I'm really looking forward to getting back into that creative space, it's been a long time,” he noted.

In his hiatus, Bush nevertheless circled the zeitgeist, thanks mainly to the fourth season of Netflix's sci-fi sensation. Stranger Thingswhich soundtracked a key scene of her “Running Up That Hill,” taking the song to number one nearly four decades after its release.

This unlikely resurgence introduces Bush's music to a new wave of young fans who can expect more in this vein when the pioneering English musician finally stages his comeback. But they are less likely to get it. At 66, Bush is half a lifetime removed from the young maverick who broke new ground for female singer-songwriters in the 1970s and 1980s. Thing is, it only makes the prospect of more music more exciting.

There's often a perception, when it comes to the twilight years of a singer-songwriter's career, that decline is something of an inevitability. In some ways, it is: even many of the unstoppable greats – Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell – have fallen victim to it. But when your early work is something like an earthquake Highway 61 revisitedor the blueThis is no little.

Getting older can remove certain tools from a musician's arsenal—strength and vocal range being the most universal and acutely felt changes. But it adds so much: experience, depth, perspective. Many songwriters write their best and most powerful compositions late in their careers.

There's something wonderful about tracks like Randy Newman's “Wandering Boy”, or Bruce Springsteen's “Ghost” – rich, poignant songs that these guys wouldn't have written in their younger years, despite being great songwriters. With 2016 BlackstarDavid Bowie released one of his best and most profound records towards the very end of his life; Gill Scott-Heron 2010 did a similar thing I'm new here. Greatness, it says, need not diminish with age.

Bush is a particularly interesting case, because there's always been a divide between the popular understanding of what his music is – languid rock bangers, most notably the No. 1-charting “Wuthering Heights” – and challenging, experimental reality. Hounds of LoveThe 1985 album from which “Running Up That Hill” is drawn, straddles both worlds. Half of it is a set of infectious radio-ready singles, while the other half is a sprawling and conceptual work that weaves seven songs into one piece of music. His later works continued to be repeated and tested: 50 words for snow Consisting of seven long and complex songs, the longest of which lasts around 14 minutes.

Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music

Sign up now for a 4-month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members)

sign up

So, it's impossible to really predict what Bush's new music will sound like – but you can bet it won't sound too much like “Running Up That Hill.” That may not be his way onto his next album Stranger things 5But that's probably a good thing. What matters is that Bush has something new to say, and a new way to say it. He makes music that no one else can – so it's sweet that he's not done yet.