“There are darknesses in life and there are lights; you are one of the lights.”
THE 9TH WAVE THE LURE OF
KATE BUSH
&
What does a 40-year-old album about a woman lost in the water overnight have to do with Dracula?
Nothing.
And everything.
The Ninth Wave (side two of Hounds of Love) by Kate Bush changed everything for me. It was equal parts cinematic, theatrical, and utterly epic. The journey of a mind suspended between life and death has always resonated with me, and my goal with this piece was to craft something that could touch the same deep, mythic currents.
Waking the Witch — that is Lucy.
The story drifts from And Dream of Sheep into the frantic scramble of a Jig of Life. It pulls us over and Under Ice, then forces us to say Hello Earth after Watching You Without Me. These songs became emotional landmarks, echoing the rhythms, terrors, and transcendent moments in the play.
The suite suggested a grandeur of theme and presentation that simply wasn’t possible for me until that Ninth Wave hit and “all was in flame.” If you want to understand what inspired this work, listen — openly — to the power and the mythos in Bush’s music.
Take the journey.
And never look back.
— Gary Hall
‘WAVE AFTER WAVE,
EACH MIGHTIER THAN THE LAST
TILL LAST,
A NINTH ONE GATHERING HALF
THE DEEP,
AND FULL OF VOICES,
SLOWLY ROSE AND PLUNGED
ROARING,
AND ALL THE WAVE WAS IN FLAME.’ –
‘The Coming of Arthur’
Alfred Lord Tennyson
If this image doesn't at least resonate with you, you probably won't understand the power of a single song.
Thirty-seven after its release, Running Up that Hill found the audience that had eluded it for so many years. A singular moment when visuals blended perfectly with music to offer hope in utter darkness. Certainly Stranger Things, Sadie Sink and Kate Bush are forever entwined.
