DECEMBER WILL BE MAGIC AGAIN

Christmas Kate?! Alright! Sorry I'm a month early to be celebrating Kate Bush's July Will Be Magic Again. I much appreciated in user Matti's review their contextualization of this single, as it was released just following Never For Ever (1980).

And indeed, she really captures that classic Christmas sound from the get-go on "December Will Be Magic Again". It's 1980 and she's of course still sporting her swelling dramatic soprano. With little trills of synthesizer, the main of the track is guitar (or is it mandolin) with piano. In a great compliment from me, the grand refrain, now with added drums and backing vocals (the latter of which continue on in the next verse), has a sort of oldschool Runescape feel to me. Generally speaking, the compositional style of that OST's (if that's what games also call them) Ian Taylor is relatively simplistic, but he is apt and well capable of capturing different moods. And so, as fans well know, does Bush. Great melody. Bit complex in the verses, but still lovely.

And "Warm and Soothing" is very much of her old mode, with soft and feeling vocals in piano balladry. A lot of beauty, but a less-than-memorable melody compared to some of the similar tracks of this sort. I mean, "In The Warm Room", for instance... Good God, can she write. Certainly B-side material here, to say the least.