The Haunted Man sounds a lot like previous Bat for Lashes releases, but that’s not a bad thing.
In such a crowded musical landscape, it’s nearly impossible for a musician to create a truly distinctive sound. However, Natasha Khan, aka Bat for Lashes, has carved out a delightful little niche for herself, playing her own brand of melancholic, somewhat hallucinatory electronic chamber-pop.
Even so, Khan has spent the majority of her career running away from comparisons — Bat for Lashes is like a 21st-century Kate Bush in Björk’s wardrobe.
With her third record, The Haunted Man, Khan strips it all away — evidenced by the record’s much-talked-about semi-nude Ryan McGinley cover — in an apparent attempt to mature beyond the childhood nightmare imagery and themes of awakened sexuality permeating 2006’s Fur and Gold and 2009’s Two Suns.
Khan wants The Haunted Man to be an evolutionary step forward for Bat for Lashes, raising the project to the next artistic level, but is it a success?
While it’s by no means a bad record, it’s not a revolution either. Khan takes a few chances — there’s a bit more orchestration here and there than on previous records — but at its core, The Haunted Man sounds like a typical Bat for Lashes record.
In a subtle way, this may have been all Khan really wanted, despite all of the record’s pre-release hype. Tracks such as “Lilies” sound like Bat for Lashes and not much else — a catchy, muted melody played out on synthesizers and orchestral arrangements, all swathed in heady atmospheric effects.
The luscious “Oh Yeah” perfectly mixes trip-hop and indie-pop sensibilities, as Khan jam packs the track with every conceivable (and tasteful) splash of airy emotion, including twinkling piano arpeggios and a massive chorus of chanting men.
The Haunted Man travels to many places, from the bombastic climax of the title track to the shifting, danceable rhythms of “All Your Gold” to the slow-burn electronica of “Marilyn.”
Still, the record emerges atmospherically cohesive, even if the quality isn’t spectacular. Aurally, Bat for Lashes’ timbres and production are as powerful as ever, but, much like her previous records, the individual tracks (such as the not particularly memorable “Rest Your Head”) rarely stand out. The least memorable tracks suffer from having too much in common with everything else she has produced.
If you’ve liked Bat for Lashes in the past, The Haunted Man should be a no-brainer. Since she can’t escape them anyway, I’ll offer one more flattering comparison: If you like Peter Gabriel’s first six solo albums, up through 1986’s So, then you should love this album.
If you just want to hear someone who sounds unlike most of her peers, pick up a copy of The Haunted Man. It may not accomplish Khan’s intentions, but it is awash in wide-screen beauty nonetheless.
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