No, she doesn't live in Grand Rapids.
At first glance, the Bat for Lashes’ sophomore album is a tough sell: what is up with THAT cover? If such silly art-school photography experiment is an indicator of how half-assed this record is going to sound, listeners must be in for a clunker. Luckily for those who choose to take that next step, when it comes to making music Natasha Khan (the real person behind Bat for Lashes) comes out less like a poseur and more like the real deal.
The primary reference point of Two Suns‘ sound has to be Kate Bush. Just as Bush was originally “discovered” by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Khan received the Radiohead seal of approval when she was picked to open for them during their last European trek. Like Bush, Khan’s vocals also feel at home regardless of the minimalism or grandiosity of her songs’ arrangements: whether it’s the bare piano of “Moon and Moon” and the superb “Travelling Woman” or Two Suns’ denser highlights such as “Daniel” or “Glass”, her vocals remain the music’s focal point.
Bat for Lashes brings to mind other notorious female performers, notably PJ Harvey and Tori Amos, yet she rarely sounds like a copycat/rip-off of her predecessors (though I swear there’s a tune that sounds like “Siren Song” on Little Earthquakes). Aided both by the variety of its arrangements and the technological competence with which they are recorded, Two Suns sounds sharp, interesting, and unique: it’s not exactly an electronic album, nor is it easily qualifiable as pop, rock, or even “indie” (for the sake of making up a genre, how about “fantasy goth pop”?). Instead, it falls into the thankfully blurry “good music” category.
With plenty of idyosincratic moments, Two Suns surely won’t please everybody – if “Daniel” doesn’t do it for you, I’m not sure what will. Conversely, this is a difficult album to dismiss as “total crap”: despite its questionable outer appearance, this is at the very least a well-crafted and -executed record. Personally, this is the best thing I’ve heard so far in 2009.
FOR FANS OF: Bjork, Kate Bush, Tori Amos, PJ Harvey, The Knife / Fever Ray.
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