Bat for Lashes
Bat for Lashes | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Natasha Khan |
Born | London, England | 25 October 1979
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 2006–present |
Labels | |
Member of | Sexwitch |
Website | www |
Natasha Khan (born 25 October 1979), known professionally as Bat for Lashes, is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released six studio albums: Fur and Gold (2006), Two Suns (2009), The Haunted Man (2012), The Bride (2016), Lost Girls (2019), and The Dream of Delphi (2024). She has received three Mercury Prize nominations. Khan is also the vocalist for Sexwitch, a collaboration with the rock band Toy and producer Dan Carey.
Early life
Khan was born to an English mother and a Pakistani father, squash player Rehmat Khan.[7][8] A member of the Khan family, she is the granddaughter of squash player Nasrullah Khan, the niece of squash players Jahangir Khan and Torsam Khan, and the stepdaughter of singer and actress Salma Agha.
The family moved to Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, when Khan was five years old. She attended many of her family's squash matches, which she felt inspired her creativity: "The roar of the crowd is intense; it is ceremonial, ritualistic, I feel like the banner got passed to me but I carried it on in a creative way. It is a similar thing, the need to thrive on heightened communal experience."[8] After her father left the family when Khan was eleven, she taught herself to play the piano, which became "a channel to express things, to get them out".[8]
Khan was subject to racial abuse during secondary school due to her Pakistani heritage. She played
After returning to the UK, Khan settled in
Music career
2006–08: Fur and Gold
Khan's debut single, "The Wizard", was released digitally through
Fur and Gold received critical acclaim, including a five-star review from The Guardian.[19] It was shortlisted for the 2007 Mercury Prize, losing out to Klaxons' Myths of the Near Future, despite being a favourite of British media to win the award.[20] Also in 2007, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) bestowed their Vanguard Award on her and chose her to perform at their "ASCAP Presents..." showcase at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. In 2008, Khan was nominated for British Breakthrough Act and British Female Solo Artist at the Brit Awards.
2009–11: Two Suns
Khan's second album,
A concept album,[22] Two Suns focuses on Khan's desert-born alter ego Pearl, whose personality she adopted while staying in New York to gain a better understanding of the character. She revealed to the BBC's Newsbeat, "I really just did it as an experiment of dressing up myself with quite garish extreme feminine make-up. I wanted to photograph myself in that situation and just see what it made me feel."[23] Khan believed that living in Brooklyn when bands such as TV on the Radio, MGMT, and Gang Gang Dance were emerging on the music scene had an influence on the album's musical style. In an interview with MTV, she said, "I experienced that whole thing coming out, in terms of beats and like going out dancing and checking out all this new music, it was really inspiring."[22] During the album's production, she also collaborated with Brooklyn band Yeasayer for the bass and beat programming.[21] In June 2009, Bat for Lashes first appeared on the cover of The Fader, in its 60th issue.[24]
Two Suns debuted at number five on the
Critical response to the album was mostly favourable, generating a score of 77 on the review aggregator Metacritic.[28] In their review for Two Suns, NME awarded it 8 out of 10, describing the album as "epic in scope and ambition and requires a similarly epic patience to unravel its charms."[29] Rolling Stone also rated it favourably, stating "Khan proves she's a powerhouse under her billowy sleeves. She could be the next Kate Bush."[30] However, some critics such as PopMatters found problems: reviewing the album, they wrote, "While the weaker songs are definitely not throwaways, they miss the mark in more than one way."[31] Blender magazine also felt the album was average, awarding it 3 out 5 stars, saying, "The contrast between Pearl and Natasha isn't always crisply drawn".[32] As with Fur and Gold, Khan was nominated for the Mercury Prize for Two Suns.[33] In 2010, she won Best Alternative Act at the UK Asian Music Awards and received a second BRIT Award nomination for British Female Solo Artist.
As part of the 2009 summer festival season, Khan played at
In early 2010, Khan toured South America supporting
For Record Store Day 2010, Bat for Lashes released an exclusive double A-side 7" single comprising a live performance of the "Trophy" single B-side "Howl", recorded at De La Warr Pavilion, and a cover of "Wild Is the Wind", originally written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington.[39] In 2011, Khan recorded a cover version of Depeche Mode's "Strangelove" for a Gucci advertising campaign. The song was released as a free download from Gucci's YouTube channel and various blogs.[40] In June 2011, Khan performed two shows at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Vivid LIVE Arts Festival, her only performances of the year.[41][42]
2012–14: The Haunted Man
The third Bat for Lashes album,
In 2013, Khan performed at the
In 2014, Khan collaborated with
2015: Sexwitch
On 15 August 2015, Khan began previewing new music on her Twitter and Instagram pages via a game of Hangman.[49][50] During a surprise Green Man Festival set in Wales on 22 August, she debuted a music project with producer Dan Carey and the band Toy, called Sexwitch.[51] Two days later, it was announced that Sexwitch's eponymous debut album would be released on 25 September 2015 by Echo and BMG, consisting of six covers of 1970s psychedelic and folk songs from different parts of the world.[52]
2016: The Bride
On 19 February 2016, a new song, "I Do", was released on YouTube with a picture of a
2019: Lost Girls
On 10 June 2019, the album Lost Girls was announced and the song "Kids in the Dark" was released on YouTube.[54] Lost Girls was released on 6 September 2019.[55]
2024: The Dream of Delphi
Khan released the title track from her upcoming sixth album, The Dream of Delphi, on 22 February 2024.[56] The album is expected to come out on 31 May 2024, with an English tour scheduled for June.[57]
The album reflects on the conception and birth of Khan's daughter Delphi during the
Artistry
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2014) |
Khan is a contralto with an expansive range.[59][60][61][62] Critics have likened her music to the work of Joni Mitchell, Nico, Siouxsie Sioux,[63] Björk, Kate Bush, Cat Power, PJ Harvey, Annie Lennox, Tori Amos, and Fiona Apple.[64] Her music has been described by MTV Iggy as "at once haunting and way danceable".[65]
Other projects
Khan and fashion house YMC designed a limited edition capsule collection of sportswear and accessories for the spring/summer 2014 season.[66][67][68] The release of the collection was accompanied by a fashion film, Under the Indigo Moon, directed by and starring Khan, with a soundtrack she composed with Beck.[69]
In 2014, Film4 commissioned Cowboy Films to produce the short film Gotcha, with Khan as writer and director.[70] She said she intended to develop the project into a feature-length film.[69][71] In 2016, she wrote and directed the short film Madly.[72]
Khan has written feature-length film scripts for both The Bride (2016) and Lost Girls (2019).[73]
Personal life
Khan moved from London to Los Angeles in 2017.[74] She and her partner, Australian actor and model Samuel Watkins, live in Highland Park.[75] Khan gave birth to their first child, a daughter, in July 2020.[76]
Discography
- Fur and Gold (2006)
- Two Suns (2009)
- The Haunted Man (2012)
- The Bride (2016)
- Lost Girls (2019)
- The Dream of Delphi (2024)
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Result |
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2007 | Mercury Prize | Fur and Gold | Nominated |
ASCAP Awards
|
Vanguard Award | Won | |
Antville Music Video Awards | Video of the Year ("What's a Girl to Do?") | Won | |
Best Choreography ("What's a Girl to Do?") | Nominated | ||
Best Art Direction ("What's a Girl to Do?") | Nominated | ||
MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Video ("What's a Girl to Do?") | Nominated | |
2008 | UK Music Video Awards | Best Indie/Alternative Video ("What's a Girl to Do?") | Nominated |
D&AD Awards | Music Video ("What's a Girl to Do?") | Wood Pencil | |
Brit Awards | British Breakthrough Act | Nominated | |
British Female Solo Artist | Nominated | ||
PLUG Independent Music Awards | New Artist of the Year | Nominated | |
Female Artist of the Year | Nominated | ||
2009 | Mercury Prize | Two Suns | Nominated |
MTV Video Music Awards | Breakthrough Video ("Daniel") | Nominated | |
Best Art Vinyl of 2009 | Two Suns | Nominated | |
Rober Awards Music Poll | Best Female Artist | Nominated | |
2010 | Brit Awards | British Female Solo Artist | Nominated |
UK Asian Music Awards | Best Alternative Act | Won | |
Ivor Novello Awards | Best Contemporary Song ("Daniel") | Won | |
Music Producers Guild Awards[77] | UK Single of the Year ("Daniel") | Nominated | |
2012 | Antville Music Video Awards | Best Performance ("Laura") | Nominated |
2013 | Brit Awards | British Female Solo Artist | Nominated |
Virgin Media | Best Album of 2012 (The Haunted Man) | Nominated | |
Ivor Novello Awards | Best Song Musically and Lyrically ("Laura") | Nominated | |
YouTube Music Awards | Innovation of the Year ("Lilies") | Nominated | |
2016 | Mercury Prize | The Bride | Nominated |
2019 | Ivor Novello Awards[78] | Best Television Soundtrack (Requiem) | Won |
2020 | Denmark GAFFA Awards[79] | Best Foreign Solo Act | Pending |
Best Foreign Album (Lost Girls) | Pending |
References
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External links
- Official website
- Bat for Lashes at AllMusic
- Bat for Lashes discography at Discogs
- Media related to Bat for Lashes at Wikimedia Commons