Fur And Gold

We saw this girl and her mostly female band at Glastonbury, and were instantly mesmerised by her melodic voice and the band's members subtle use of the weird sounding instruments and great backing vocals.In addition,they were able to change around instruments between themselves, creating some brilliant music that was in total control all times, a wonderful sound that was different but somehow familiar.

We ordered the CD from Amazon, who were out stock, but it arrived two weeks before they said it would, have been playing it ever since,just magical.

Bob and Barb Townsend

Awful name for a band but then people kept mentioning Bjork and Kate Bush in the same sentence as Natasha Khan's band of female musical mavericks, so I decided Bat For Lashes could be ignored no more. Why did I wait!
What made the early Kate Bush and Bjork records so special was their naivety and total lack of self-consciousness coupled with a wonderful, if off-kilter, pop sensibility. And it's that which Bat For Lashes have in spades.
While our two maturing heroines have become increasingly avant guard or insular, Khan remains fresh-faced, up-beat and in love with the melodic possibilities of a simple pop hook. And, hand on heart, there is not a song on the album that has me reaching for the track-skipping switch.
This is a fine record, perhaps the best I have heard in the past 12 months, that deserves a wide audience. We need pop mavericks (even if they do sing about wizards, bats etc) and Natasha Khan more than carries the torch. Great stuff.

Well, I dont know many albums that start with a harpsichord melody that sounds so simple that it may as well have come out of one of my childhood keyboards, but still retains a certain baroqueness about it. But here we are! Bat For Lashes is essentially Nataschka Khan's band, a gifted singer/songwriter who mixes a Bjork-like individuality with unusual instrumentation and graceful songwriting. The album relies mostly on piano/keyboard/violin melodies and Khan's direct yet soft vocals.

Listening to it, there doesnt seem to be a definitive song for this band, as each of the 11 tracks on offer here sound unique. That doesnt mean they're all winners; all of the songs can be praised for individuality but some for being unmemorable. This, in turn, makes haunting piano-led ballad 'Sad Eyes' stand out, aswell as opener 'Horse And I' with its impressive vocal melodies. Album highlight would be 'The Bat's Mouth', which slowly builds to a beautiful melodic pinnacle of optimism and ends with a lovely quiet ending, touching violin lines and all.

Unusual, varied, slightly moody but not depressing, individualistic and slightly poppy would be the best way to describe it. Whilst 'Fur And Gold' isnt a classic its got plenty of memorable moments on it, and it bodes well for Khan's career if she's making songs this good on her debut.