Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

If Tori Amos, Regina Spektor, and Stevie Nicks had some sort of weird lesbian love baby, it would be Natasha Khan.

Khan, otherwise known as Bat For Lashes, second album, Two Suns, has every bit of wonder and childish fascination as her first album, Fur and Gold, but this time around it's  a little more masterful.

According to the press release, Two Suns is: "a record of modern-day fables exploring dualities on a number of levels – two lovers, two planets, two sides of a personality," bringing reflection about "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." I don't think it can be said any better than that. She has this whole gypsy/celestial vibe going on and I like it.

Also, she has this alter-ego thing going on named Pearl, a personification of her clubbing, blond wig clad, New York days. From the press release: "a destructive, self-absorbed, blonde, femme fatale of a persona who acts as a direct foil to Khan's more mystical, desert-born spiritual self." Very much Tori in the American Doll Posse days.

This album does lose some of that feral, tribal quality of her first album but on the plus side, pushes her voice and musical ability far past what she was capable of on Fur and Gold. This album reaches from the poppy hits, "Daniel" and "Pearl's Dream" to moody, ethereal, piano-laden tracks like, "Siren Song" and "Traveling Woman" (one of my faves from this album). She does hit on that carnal, tribal beat with, "Glass", "Moon and Moon", and "Peace of Mind", so I guess I can't complain too much.

Bonus: I got to listen to this album coming into work today, sitting on a bus in competely dense fog, just zoning out. It's good for that. Despite all of the heavy keyboard and autoharp, it's an ideal  "need to space out" album with just a bit of a groove. I like it and think that Natasha Khan will only get better with age. B

Bat For Lashes