Two Suns

I am late in coming to appreciate Bat For Lashes, the brainchild of Pakistan born, British citizen Natasha Khan. Her first CD, Fur and Gold, was just a little too precious for me. Too many slight melodies and quirky instrumentation, not to mention the lyrics about mystic golden light and other flights of fancy. There were several moments, fleeting as they may be, that pointed towards a more muscular, full bodied Bat For Lashes sound.

Two Suns opens with the dramatically building "Glass." Singing in almost a dreamlike monotone, surrounded by subtle electronics, her voice gathers strength and conviction and almost a masculine tone as drum programming pushes the song to interesting heights.



One of the criticisms of Ms. Khan is that she wears her influences too closely, with hints of everyone from Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Annie Lennox, Siouxsie Sioux, and PJ Harvey littered throughout her music. I think the criticisms are fair, but there is one thing to intentionally ape someone else, and another to use them as a springboard for your own individuality. I think the criticisms are less apt for this second release.

The songs' voices alternate between Ms. Khan's true "desert-born spiritual self" and her alter-ego Pearl, a "destructive, self-absorbed, blonde femme fatale" with both sides covering "the philosophy of the self and duality, examining the need for both chaos and balance, for both love and pain, in addition to touching on metaphysical ideas concerning the connections between all existence." It's a pretty heady concept to tackle in the course of one album, however, Ms. Khan executes it nearly perfectly, bouncing from more experimental tracks such as "Peace of Mind" with its choirs and banjo-esque funereal dirge to the more pop-oriented songs such as "Daniel."



The songs as her alter-ego Pearl are particularly entrancing. "Siren Song" is about Pearl's desire for comfort and stability in a loving relationship but how sometimes temptations get the best of her and she ends up hurting her lover, even though she doesn't want to. It is lovely how Ms. Khan sings the stable Pearl's lyrics in almost a hushed whisper, and then when temptation gathers, the music builds into chaos and her voice becomes wild and uncontrollable.



"Pearl's Dream" continues her fight to find a balance between a calm, easy existence, and the urge to be more wild and untamed. She sings, "and when the battle was done/I was promised my sun/but with a thousand nights gone/to any kingdom I run."

My favorite song on Two Suns is "Two Planets," which rivals some of Bjork's best works. Over insistent, pummeling beats and electronics clicks and hand claps, her voice swirls in and out of the mix. The lyrics appear to be about the pull between darkness and light, but that she knows she is now in control.

"And to be shared
On this night
Feel my hands
Feel my life
For the Sun
And the stars
Are my Mother
And my sister
I know where the form is changing
I know that the stars will follow me."



Interestingly, the closing song on the CD, "The Big Sleep," she duets with Scott Walker, the king of the avant garde, and matches him note for note. Walker is such a huge presence that I was shocked that she was able to keep up with him.



This release is such a huge leap forward from Fur and Gold that it almost seems like it comes from another artist altogether. It is always amazing to hear someone come into their own voice and almost perfectly translate their vision. I am very interested in watching what Ms. Khan does next. She has set the bar very high though; but something tells me that is the only way she would want it.