Kate Bush
Hounds of Love (EMI)
Australian singer-songwriter ILUKA told us about her love for a Kate Bush classic...
ILUKA: If I had to choose a favorite album right now, it would probably be Hounds of Love by Kate Bush. It’s one of those records that feels less like an album and more like stepping into somebody’s inner world. It’s wild and feminine and theatrical, but also deeply human. Every time I listen to it, I hear something different. What I love most about it is its fearlessness. Kate Bush made something completely her own. There are moments on that record that feel soft and romantic, then suddenly strange and unsettling and massive. It reminds me that music doesn’t have to fit neatly into one thing to be beautiful. It can be emotional, chaotic, and cinematic all at once.
I think Hounds of Love captures longing better than almost any album I’ve heard. There’s this constant tension between wanting freedom and wanting safety, between running toward love and being terrified of it. It feels haunted in the most beautiful way. Like standing alone at night with your thoughts becoming louder than the world around you. Even sonically, it still feels timeless to me. The drums, the storytelling, the atmosphere of it all. It’s the kind of album that makes me want to make braver art. Art that feels instinctive instead of polished. Honest instead of careful.
It’s one of those records that reminds me music can feel like a dream, or a memory, or a warning. I don’t think I’ll ever stop coming back to it.
ILUKA's The Wild, The Innocent & the Raging deluxe album is out July 10.
Photo by Matt Gaillet
