26/03/11
At the time of writing, Natasha Khan is causing quite a stir on the internet as her musical moniker, Bat for Lashes. Music blog aggregator, Hype Machine currently has her listed in the top five most-blogged artists of the day, a position she’s held on to for quite a few days now. But, if the word ‘hype’ means to inflate interest in something by over-exaggerated means, then we need to look closer at the journey of Miss Khan so far to see if she has the capacity to keep the hype machine ticking over.
Born in England in 1979 to an English mother and Pakistani father, her intimate relationship with music was ignited by her parents’ separation, which saw her find solace in retreating to the cellar of her family home to play the piano with the soft pedal on. Although 11 years old at the time, it was the naissance of a multi-instrumentalist that would later cite these years as influences on her artistic expression. She had a richer exposure to different cultures than most and while most children live out vivid images through their imagination, Natasha describes the summers she spent in Pakistan as “exotic and barbaric, with lots of animal sacrifices, ghost stories, religion and mysticism” – already enough material for a good concept album…!
The early adulthood of Natasha Khan played out with less unusual stimulus; she studied film and music at Brighton University and then worked for a while as a nursery school teacher, presumably gathering images and appreciating the company of free-minded children and all the time gathered and wrote the material that would become the basis for the name change – Bat for Lashes is so-called just because Natasha thought the three words sounded good together – and forming the foundations of what would become her debut album, Fur and Gold.
Originally releasing her debut single on the Drowned in Sound label, then signing to Echo – home to acts like Feeder and Roisin Murphy – in 2007 she left Echo for Parlophone and re-released the aforementioned debut album, Fur and Gold. The year 2007 was a real introduction of Natasha Khan to the music-buying public and vice-versa and was given a real boost when despite understated attention and publicity, the album went on to be nominated for the 2007 Mercury Music Prize. Although pipped by Klaxons, our ears were now familiar with the esoteric sounds of Bat for Lashes and just as importantly, it seemed for many, our eyes were open to a potential style/music icon of the 21st century. Her fantasy-laden image, mesmerising features and sympathy with all things visual has seen her be described by Dazed and Confused founder, Jefferson Hack, as “shamanic” and has led her to collaborate with British fashion designer, Alexander McQueen on his label, McQ, the products of which can be seen on the artwork to her second album. It wasn’t just in the fashion world that Natasha was picking up famous fans; Radiohead, Bjork and M.I.A. have all been quoted as being in the Bat for Lashes camp, but if celebrity endorsement feels at all shallow, more recognition from industry officials was starting to give this act justified recognition. In 2007, she received a welcome boost from across the pond, being awarded the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Vanguard Award and was asked to perform at the ‘ASCAP Presents…’ show at South by South West Festival. Another notable plaudit from that year was the appearance of Khan on the Guardian’s ‘Women of the Year’ list, a list only populated by one musician – herself – that year. Although not always an indication of the wider music-buying population, it’s worth saying that looking to 2008, Bat for Lashes was nominated for Best Breakthrough Act and Best British Female at the BRIT Awards as well.
As is often the story, it took personal circumstances to act as muse for what many people are calling a stunning second album, ‘Two Suns’. After the release of Fur and Gold, Natasha’s romance with New York band Moon and Moon’s front-man saw her moving to Brooklyn for a while, a move that would have both negative and positive effects on the conception of her second album. A girl used to the relative relaxed pace of a forgiving and timeless Brighton, UK, struggled with the pace of demanding New York and she was exposed to the real, gritty side of the city, without much of the character or charm that she had envisaged from her Warhol-era impressions of the Big Apple. This rude enlightenment had two notable effects on the progress of ‘Two Suns’, the first of which being the birth of an alter-ego of Bat for Lashes, a blonde femme fatale called Pearl who is able to exorcise her visions of seedy 60s New York through various songs on the album. Two Suns is a statement about the philosophy of self and duality and allowed Natasha to explore both sides of her creative persona. The other effect of her time in New York on the creation of Two Suns was that it forced a reaction which saw her seeking a calmer, more spacious retreat, which came in the form of the Californian deserts, the desolation of which can be felt on this complex album. She called in producer David Korsten again, the man on co-production credits with her for the first album, whose sensitivity to Natasha’s intense level of detail has clearly paid dividends. She once said to him that she wanted one of her tracks to sound like she was cuddling a friend, in bed, aged nine, so the logical David instructed her to record her vocal part to that song under a duvet. ‘Two Suns’ is a development on from ‘Fur and Gold’ and features the beat and bass programming of New York band Yeasayer, plus a duet with the timeless voice of Scott Walker on ‘The Big Sleep’ and the original employment of an all-black, gay gospel choir, a step on from what was a very solitary and personal debut album.
Natasha has continued to embrace the sharing of her music and the processes involved by assembling members to form a band with her, the members of which should be given recognition; Ben Christopher, Sarah Jones (known as the drummer from New Young Pony Club) and solo artist in her own right and former member of Ash, Charlotte Hatherley. Bat for Lashes, both the girl and her band will be coming to our region this summer as one of the acts booked for Latitude Festival, a fitting member of the line-up and one that many are saying is one of the pioneering acts of this decade.