Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man

Natasha Khan, better known as Bat For Lashes, has had an interesting career to date, with two Mercury music prize and Brit Award nominations under her belt as well as wins from the MTV Music Video and British Asian Music Awards. Début Album Fur and Gold only narrowly missed out winning the Mercury to The Klaxons despite being the media favourite. Her second album, Two Suns, received a slightly frostier reception from critics, who said that the album lacked consistency.

Khan has returned this year with The Haunted Man, which she herself said was an album she ‘wanted to spend a little more time on’. That extra hard work has certainly paid off, and The Haunted Man feels like a more complete and solid album. Khan has been compared vocally to the likes of Annie Lennox, Kate Bush and Bjork in the past and that’s definitely still evident. The song All Your Gold seems to tip a hat to The Eurythmics and Winter Fields could easily be a Bjork album track. That’s no bad thing though, and the mix of vocal styles and song arrangements is refreshing and uplifting. It’s great that she’s being put in the camp of talented female singer/songwriters from recent history too, a label that might be hard to live up to in the long run but speaks volumes about the potential of this young indie artist.

Overall, this album is an atmospheric and enjoyable experience that would suit a live gig or a bit of end-of-the-night chill-out in equal measure. Leading Track Laura will be familiar to a lot of people, as it’s been floating around for a while now. An emotive, piano led plea of a song, it has all the hallmarks of a classic. Other tracks from the Album such as Oh Yeah and Marilyn bear show a more experimental style, with muted drumbeats and multiple synths conspiring to give an almost spooky feel to them, which juxtaposes nicely with the simple yet elegant piano solos and Khan’s clear and confident voice.

Standout track: Laura

Verdict: ••••

Joe Waits

The Haunted Man is due for release on the 23^rd October. To find out more visit the official website.

Watch the music video for All Your Gold here: