Program Note:

It’s in the trees, it’s coming is a quote from the 1957 Jacques Tourneur film, Night of the Demon, itself an adaptation of one of my favourite M.R James stories, Casting the Runes. The quote appears at the opening of Kate Bush’s song ‘Hounds of Love’, sampled directly from the film. The energy of Bush’s voice is one reason I continuously return to this song. She is mining the depths on certain lines, almost crooning, and on another line throwing the curtains open to the light and letting a vocal fire come out. I wanted to explore some of the timbral spaces Bush’s voice inhabits in the song and map that onto Crash Ensemble’s instrumentation. My piece also references some of the many vocal hooks of the song, the cool dusky pinks of the underlying synth harmonies, and the ever-present percussion riff that propels the song forward. Bush has said that the “hounds” of the song represent a fear of love, but that “perhaps these baying hounds are really friendly”. Admittedly, my piece and interpretation of the song explore the same subject matter; the idea of love (and the confusion and responsibilities that come with it) catching up with you, but ultimately realising love is exactly what you need.