Much Ado About Nothing: Bat for Lashes

A wise man once said, "You know, sometimes it's fun to write about stuff that you don't like". The fact that many blogs entertain readers with poetic renderings on how much of a cockswane a particular artist or group is has not been lost on me. A well-written slam can be savoury, hysterically funny and clever. I admit, I'm not a very experienced music writer and normally avoid negative leanings, this is likely because before I deem a song or an artist worthy of a good old fashioned slam sandwich something inside me has to be triggered...a niggling almost imperceptible itch with an impossible to locate origin.

The time has come.

Maybe it was the heat, or my boredom and dissatisfaction with the majority of music I was exposed to at the time, but when Bat for Lashes (aka Natasha Khan) released Fur and Gold last summer I was seduced by the dark comic charms of What's a Girl to Do. As the album gained even more momentum, more pictures like this were published, and Thom Yorke invited the the maidens on tour (kind of like your own personal busload of bohemian chic Barbie dolls eh Tommy?) I began to grow weary of the whole forest-nymph-gypsy-in-Athenian-headdress aesthetic and, in particular, the undeserved comparisons to female pioneers like Kate Bush, Bjork and Siouxsie Sioux to name a few.


The most recent endorsement of Bat for Lashes comes via Kanye West's blog where the single Glass, from the forthcoming album Two Suns, was recently posted (first Thom Yorke, the Moctezuma of sociopolitical eco-rock and now the biggest cockerel in the neo hip-hop nest Kanye West?). Borrowing lines from Song of Solomon Glass treats us to more Kate Bush imagery evoked via lines like a thousand crystal towers, a hundred emerald cities, and the hand of the watchman in the night sky. Tribal drums, some chordal dissonance and a culmination in signature Ani DiFranco vocalizations make this tune a perfect specimen for a quick game of "Name the Pastiche"...And don't get me started on the album art where fans and critics alike are given a colourful, albeit condescending, introduction to the symbolism of alter-egos in true "Duality for Dummies" fashion.


It would be ridiculous to expect that the influence of past and present artists would not colour the music of today. All anyone can hope for is that talent, creativity, and consideration of the treatment of the music will reflect the ability of the artist to bring something uniquely individual to the fore. In this case, at least for me, Bat for Lashes is an example of an artist that simply doesn't make the cut (and this doesn't play in her favour either). On the positive, I will admit she earns at least a pat on the back for this performance. I just hope she can ditch the dissociative identity disorder and settle comfortably into her very own.