In musical circles, much is always made of the “difficult second album”. Following the debut record which propelled previously unknown artists along the pathway to fame, fortune, and critical acclaim is tough on paper. In reality, most acts have sufficient momentum and stores of prior written songs to see them past this hurdle. But the “tricky third album” is increasingly dreaded by the bands of today. In the digital age, with fans so spoilt for choice and constantly looking for the next exciting sound from the blogosphere, producing a rehash of the same tired sound is a guaranteed ticket back to musical obscurity. Equally, reinvent yourself too much and you risk losing the very fans that bought into your sound in the first place.
It seems reasonable to assume that Natasha Khan’s apparent disappearance from the music scene since the release of 2009’s epic Two Suns was not unrelated to feeling the pressure to live up to the hype around her and her esoteric on-stage personas – with glitter, feathers and exotic instruments a frequent sight at her live performances, and inevitable comparisons to Kate Bush and Bjork never far behind.
Indeed, there was such an absence of news that it only served to fan the flames of expectation and make us wonder even more about what could be brewing for the next Bat For Lashes offering.
We got our first clue in June with the release of a title (The Haunted Man) and the album artwork – a simple black and white shot with a vulnerable Khan – naked, but for a male model draped over her shoulders. The message was pretty clear: all the glitter and gold is gone, this is going to be a simpler record stripped to the absolute minimum but retaining all the beauty and vulnerability we’ve come to expect.
Opener ‘Lilies’ is striking for its starkness, with little but Natasha’s gorgeous vocals for much of it. These vocals are the perfect contrast to the sumptuous orchestral arrangements which burst into life halfway through. ‘Horses of the Sun’ feels like a fleeting look backwards to the Bat for Lashes we knew before, with the familiar tribal drum beats and tinkling strings preluding the synth-heavy ‘Oh Yeah’.
The highlight of the record comes just as the record feels like it’s building towards a crescendo, in the form of ‘Laura’. Again, there’s very little but Khan’s vocals and a piano, but it manages to sound even more expansive than the louder, more complex tracks on the record.
It is this ability to make beauty from the simple which marks Bat for Lashes apart from many others in the music scene. Indeed, the entire album feels defined by the sparseness of what is presented. At first listen this makes some tracks, especially towards the end, feel underwhelming but there is still plenty to discover and love from repeated listens.
Perhaps what’s most tantalising about the record as a whole is that it very much feels like a stepping stone. But to where? Only one person knows the answer to that and we can only hope we don’t have as long to wait this time for the reveal.
The Haunted Man is available now via Parlophone at all good record shops.
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By Andrew McBride
Dance Yrself Clean
