Before the Dawn | |||||
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Live album by Kate Bush | |||||
Released | 25 November 2016 | ||||
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Length | 154:53 | ||||
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Producer | Kate Bush | ||||
Kate Bush chronology | |||||
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Kate Bush live album chronology | |||||
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Before the Dawn is the second live album by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush, credited to The KT Fellowship. The album was released on 25 November 2016 by Bush's label Fish People, and is distributed in the United States by Concord Records. The album has been certified Gold in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry.
It was recorded during Bush's 22-date residency, Before the Dawn, at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, which saw her return to the stage following a 35-year absence. As with the residency, the album is split into three parts, comprising seven miscellaneous songs, the complete Ninth Wave suite from Hounds of Love, and A Sky of Honey from Bush's 2005 release Aerial. The album also contains the song "Tawny Moon", performed by Bush's son, Albert McIntosh. Presented in the same order as the original show, the album's performances are culled from various shows throughout the residency.
The album also contains the track "Never Be Mine". This did not feature on the Before the Dawn residency, but was recorded when the show was performed without an audience for the purposes of filming the production.
Following two years of speculation, the album, released as three-CD and four-record pressings, was officially announced on 29 September 2016; the track "Prologue" was also shared. Bush commented:
It was an extraordinary experience putting the show together. It was a huge amount of work, a lot of fun and an enormous privilege to work with such an incredibly talented team. This is the audio document. I hope that this can stand alone as a piece of music in its own right and that it can be enjoyed by people who knew nothing about the shows as well as those who were there. I never expected the overwhelming response of the audiences, every night filling the show with life and excitement. They are there in every beat of the recorded music. Even when you can't hear them, you can feel them.
The track "Prologue (Live)" was made available for streaming on September 28, before "King of the Mountain (Live)" was released as a promotional single on October 21, and "And Dream of Sheep (Live)", along with an accompanying piece of film used during the concerts, was made available as the album's official single on November 18 2016.