Bat for Lashes are back with a video for 'Lillies,' the latest single off last year's 'The Haunted Man' album, and the clip is quickly racking up comparisons to Michel Gondry's whimsical visual work with Bjork.
Natasha Khan dons a blonde wig and the look of a bona fide femme fatale in the video for 'A Wall,' the latest single off Bat for Lashes' 'The Haunted Man.' Khan looks seriously seductive as a blonde -- and equally cute with her trademark brunette bob when she loses the wig halfway through the clip -- but do we really need to spend the better part of four minutes watching her basically make out with actor Harry Treadaway ('Control,' 'Fish Tank'), who makes a cameo?
Natasha Khan, aka Bat for Lashes, boasts plenty of indie cred. She counts Radiohead, Yeasayer and Beck among her famous fans and collaborators. The London native lived in the hipster hotspot of Brooklyn for a while. Two of her albums have been nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize. And she managed to make Kings of Leon sound slightly less annoying with her awesome cover of ‘Use Somebody.’
Bat for Lashes recently recorded a cover of R&B superstar Rihanna's chart-topping, multi-platinum hit 'We Found Love' during an appearance on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge sessions -- and to be honest, the downtrodden and moody version turned in by Natasha Khan seems to make more sense than Rihanna's take, when you listen closely to the lyrics.
A new Soundcloud sampler featuring six songs from Bat for Lashes' forthcoming 'The Haunted Man' album has been posted online. The player features three tunes ('Laura,' 'Marilyn' and 'All Your Gold') that have previously surfaced online, plus three cuts ('A Wall,' 'Oh Yeah' and 'Winter Fields') that are making their online debuts. Check them out below.
'Laura' was an odd choice as the first single from Bat for Lashes forthcoming 'The Haunted Man' album. It's a gorgeous song, no doubt about it, but it's also very minimalist, with Natasha Khan and her outstanding voice accompanied by nothing more than a piano and some background strings flourishes. For a musician known for putting together mesmerizing accompanying instrumentation, it was a bit underwhelming.
Another new Bat for Lashes track has surfaced in advance of singer Natasha Khan's forthcoming album, 'The Haunted Man,' which drops in the U.S. on Oct. 23. Following lead single 'Laura' by nearly two months is 'Marilyn,' which continues the trend of female names in the title but dispenses with the former tune's minimalist backing instrumentation in favor a fleshed-out and lush production more in tune with her last album, 'Two Suns.'
For most of her career, Natasha Khan -- aka the frontwoman and creative force behind Bat for Lashes -- has been compared to artists like Siouxsie Sioux, Björk and Kate Bush, but with the release of her band's upcoming third album, 'The Haunted Man,' all those comparisons might have to stop.
To say that Natasha Khan is haunting -- or haunted -- is as obvious as it is understatement. The woman that is Bat for Lashes made a breakthrough in 2009 with the stomping and luxurious 'Two Suns' and distills her poetics in 'Laura,' a knee-quaking and minimalist ballad. Listen below.
Bat for Lashes fans will have to wait until this fall to hear 'The Haunted Man,' the follow-up to singer Natasha Khan's critically acclaimed 2009 album, 'Two Suns,' in its entirety. But some very lucky fans got a sneak peak of the disc this past week in Cambridge, England, when she performed three new tunes during an intimate club show there.
