Bat For Lashes review
Bat For Lashes
Two Suns
(Astralwerks)
On Two Suns, Bat For Lashes (Natasha Khan) takes English folk and spins it on its ear, though the electro touches never help the update break its influences’ magnetism.
For her sophomore effort, Khan tries to outflank her chosen idiom by any electronic means necessary, but only ends up victorious when her voice takes over, as on “Siren Song” and “Pearl’s Dream” (recalling Judy Collins or Sandy Denny). Otherwise, good luck escaping her overambitious suites: “Peace Of Mind” reaches so far that stars in distant galaxies tickle it; “The Big Sleep” borrows Scott Walker but makes him seem overmatched; and opener “Glass” seems to use its arrangement to challenge both Laura Nyro and Bjork. As much of a mental exercise that it is, however, Two Suns fades after repeated listens and doesn’t encourage the joining of any pair of solar systems any time soon.
— Steve Forstneger
