Never For Ever was Kate Bush’s first album to go to #1 in the UK and amazingly, the first British female to accomplish this feat. Producing the 1980 album herself with audio engineer Jon Kelly, the album also saw her first use of the Fair Light digital synthesizer helping create atmospheric songs like “Delius (Song Of Summer)”. Never far away though are traditional instruments, the mandolin plucking on the old folk tale sound of single “Army Dreamers” and the Japanese Koto on “All We Ever Look For”. Both played by multi-instrumentalist brother Paddy.
Never For Ever is awash in intricate storytelling. “The Wedding List” tells of a bride taking revenge for the murder of her groom on their wedding night and first single “Breathing” takes the angle of a fetus, safe from harm in the womb during a nuclear fallout. One of Bush’s most popular songs is the lead track on the album. “Babooshka” is about a wife who tests her husband’s loyalty by writing to him under a pen name. Heady stuff for a 21 year old at the time. That she was able to infiltrate the mainstream with these types of songs is a staggering achievement of both sound and voice.
8/10
The Light Appears 