It’s been a long time since this icon of British pop produced a brand new album, but the long wait is over. Double album ARIEL is ultimately a story of two very different albums – one stunning, and one that had me struggling a tad.

The first single of the album, King Of The Mountain opens the first CD (A SEA OF HONEY). The dominating dance beat that builds through the song provides some justification for its selection as the first single, but I can find little else to recommend it. There’s no strong melody, while I’m guessing this song about Elvis is really about worthless dreams and materialism. The second track certainly is about something that plagues life; our obsession with the material, with numbers; and something that takes over even the gentlest and most sensitive of people in the struggle for survival. While the subject matter is interesting, it’s a rambling song that is over-complicated, and far too long. The next song, Bertie has a medieval instrumental flavour but is guilty of taking beautiful, moving lyrics (which I assume are about her son) and drowning them in an angry sea of strings, and unnecessary complexity. Mrs Bartolozzi is the notorious song that revolves around a washing machine. With its simpler piano backdrop and rhetorical take on relationships, it’s my favourite so far. However, it too is guilty of never wanting to end. A rocky vibe pervades both How To Be Invisible and Joanni but the rambling continues, devoid of melody and my interest. My message to Bush in relation to this fist CD is that I understand where she is coming from but it’s too tortuous a journey, and I would have preferred a more direct route. Perhaps the second CD will hold more for me?

This CD is entitled A SKY OF HONEY, and musically for me it is an apt description. After a very short and moving introduction of early morning bird calls and a child calling, “Mummy…Daddy…The day is full of birds, Sounds like they’re saying words.”, Bush gets down to serious business. The simplest and most beautiful of piano backdrops, the most door-opening melody and I’m hooked. It’s a euphoric song about existing in a potentially happy, beautiful world, and through her voice there’s a compelling sincerity about the song. Next up is An Architect’s Dream and again I’m hooked on its visual and aural clarity. The orchestral and percussion arrangement is gorgeously simple, and the ideal framing for the singer’s voice. Another strong melody completes the picture of this lovely song. The Painter’s Link repeats the trick but this time with acceptable complexity that never hides the underlying sentiments. Bush is supreme at painting musical pictures and Sunset is a prime example of her art. It is a beautifully produced landscape of twittering birds, sea-washed shores and vocals that convey in believable terms the wonder of it all. Instrumentally, it also hits the bulls-eye with unerring accuracy. It’s a stunner of a song. The final track, Aerial, completes the story in an epic, emotional rollercoaster manner with another strong melody, sweeping instrumentals, and riveting multi-layered vocals. It’s a long, complex and unusual song in several parts, but succeeds beautifully.

Lyrically, Bush has never been better, and the album is worth acquiring for the second CD alone – one which could have been released on its own. Ultimately, I’m sure that Bush fans will enjoy this new song collection, and, like me, will appreciate its sincerity and, for the most part, its unique beauty.

4/5