It's funny how brilliant music can creep up on you sometimes. You can go months, years even hearing a name of a band but never listening to their music. So it was for me with Bat for Lashes, the pseudonym of 28 year-old Natasha Khan, a Brighton based singer/songwriter.
Khan rose to prominence recently after her debut album 'Fur and Gold' was made favourite for the increasingly meaningless Nationwide Mercury music prize, only to lose out to The Klaxons. Shallow glory-whore that I am, I then decided to have a listen. It's brilliant.
The usual comparisons are inevitable - Kate Bush, Bjork, Tori Amos etc - but this is more of just an amalgamation of eccentric sirens. There's an understated beauty about these songs, similar to Charlotte Gainsbourg but less French. I think it's a sign of a really great album when it gets better with every listen, and the songs start to reveal themselves more and more. There are only a handful of artists who can do this in my opinion - Radiohead, Death Cab for Cutie, The Frames, Sigur Ros, and of course Snoop Dogg - and I can now add Bat for Lashes to that illustrious list.
Plus, she's very pretty.
I urge you to legally purchase or otherwise obtain this fine piece of work. Meanwhile, here are three of my favourite tracks, of which there are many.
Bat for Lashes: Seal Jubliee
Bat for Lashes: The Wizard
Bat for Lashes: Sad Eyes
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