Opening Kate Bush’s second album of 2011, “Snowflake” depicts the birth of a single snowflake from the clouds and its impending demise upon reaching the ground. A duet between Kate and her son Bertie, it moves freely along whilst serving as an introduction to the longer format of song Kate wished to explore on this album.

Bertie’s eerily precise vocal performance consistently conjures feelings of snow’s powerful chill as it contrasts against the warmth of his mother’s on the chorus. Together with muffled drums and soft piano, they build and build upon the theme of desire for human contact and warmth before the snowflake’s inevitable end.