Album: Two Suns
Artist: Bat For Lashes
Born: Wembley, London
Released: April 2009
Genre: Art Rock
Beguiling is the word I'd use to describe seeing Natasha Khan perform for the first time. I had no idea about her or Bat For Lashes when I went to Field Day festival for the first time in 2007, but a friend recommended we go and see her afternoon performance, which had a bewitching effect on the mildly inebriated hipster crowd. One of the highlights of her set was What's A Girl To Do?, which mixes a great drum beat and twinkly piano notes with fantasy storytelling and a melodic pop chorus. The obvious comparison is Kate Bush, and Khan is an avowed fan of the fellow London-born musician. There's that same sense that you get when listening to Kate Bush, of delving into an expansive and precise fantasy world, as well as great songwriting and an undoubted pop sensibility along side the experimental edge. Her first album Fur & Gold (2006) was great but not as consistently good as follow-up, Two Suns, which has even better songs and more melodic hooks. Khan retains her ethereal earth mother persona on her second LP, but reveals a wider range of influences, notably the gothic punk of Siouxsie Sioux on Pearl's Dream.
Daniel was the most successful single released from the album, giving Bat For Lashes a Top 40 UK hit which helped the album to get nominated for the Mercury prize. Daniel is the most purely pop moment on the record, indebted to 80s-style synths and enlivened by a brilliant chorus. Other highlights for me are Travelling Woman, with its baroque piano sound and evocative lyrics about life on the road, and Two Planets, which pays an undeniable debt to Björk with its high drama and vocal acrobatics. Sleep Alone is more inspired by dance music, especially the intense and moody sound pioneered by The Knife, while Siren Song has some of the best songwriting on the album, touching on one of the record's recurring themes of duality. To start with, Khan promises a man that “I’ll always be happy to kiss you / promise I’ll never get sad”, but by the chorus she's been overcome by a new persona “driving me evil” who issues a threat that her “blond curls" will "slice through your heart”. As well as alter egos, Khan also brings in collaborators for the album, including Yeasayer (another Brooklyn band, all the rage in the noughties) and Scott Walker. The duet between Khan and Walker on closing track The Big Sleep is another highlight on the record. The spare piano sound puts the focus on the wonderful singing, as Khan matches Walker for drama and range, singing, "No more spotlights coming down from heaven / it's a goodbye, it's curtains down time."
Beguiling is the word I'd use to describe seeing Natasha Khan perform for the first time. I had no idea about her or Bat For Lashes when I went to Field Day festival for the first time in 2007, but a friend recommended we go and see her afternoon performance, which had a bewitching effect on the mildly inebriated hipster crowd. One of the highlights of her set was What's A Girl To Do?, which mixes a great drum beat and twinkly piano notes with fantasy storytelling and a melodic pop chorus. The obvious comparison is Kate Bush, and Khan is an avowed fan of the fellow London-born musician. There's that same sense that you get when listening to Kate Bush, of delving into an expansive and precise fantasy world, as well as great songwriting and an undoubted pop sensibility along side the experimental edge. Her first album Fur & Gold (2006) was great but not as consistently good as follow-up, Two Suns, which has even better songs and more melodic hooks. Khan retains her ethereal earth mother persona on her second LP, but reveals a wider range of influences, notably the gothic punk of Siouxsie Sioux on Pearl's Dream.
Daniel was the most successful single released from the album, giving Bat For Lashes a Top 40 UK hit which helped the album to get nominated for the Mercury prize. Daniel is the most purely pop moment on the record, indebted to 80s-style synths and enlivened by a brilliant chorus. Other highlights for me are Travelling Woman, with its baroque piano sound and evocative lyrics about life on the road, and Two Planets, which pays an undeniable debt to Björk with its high drama and vocal acrobatics. Sleep Alone is more inspired by dance music, especially the intense and moody sound pioneered by The Knife, while Siren Song has some of the best songwriting on the album, touching on one of the record's recurring themes of duality. To start with, Khan promises a man that “I’ll always be happy to kiss you / promise I’ll never get sad”, but by the chorus she's been overcome by a new persona “driving me evil” who issues a threat that her “blond curls" will "slice through your heart”. As well as alter egos, Khan also brings in collaborators for the album, including Yeasayer (another Brooklyn band, all the rage in the noughties) and Scott Walker. The duet between Khan and Walker on closing track The Big Sleep is another highlight on the record. The spare piano sound puts the focus on the wonderful singing, as Khan matches Walker for drama and range, singing, "No more spotlights coming down from heaven / it's a goodbye, it's curtains down time."
Comments