Natasha Khan has always been one for reinvention. Using rich storytelling to communicate profound truths, her work has carved a unique trajectory through the world of left-field pop, and Lost Girls, her first album since 2016, is perhaps the most direct Bat for Lashes record yet.
Woven together by defined bass lines, propulsive beats and a wash of synths, the album marries Khan's love of iconic '80s tracks like the Blue Nile's "Tinseltown in the Rain" with a love story that finds release in choosing to be vulnerable.
Khan's newfound home of Los Angeles seeps into the record's fabric, the tumbling beats of "Desert Man" and "Peach Sky" capturing scenes set against the city's expansive surrounding areas. Loosely based on a script she was writing at the time of the album's conception, Lost Girls is imbued with a cinematic quality; "Jasmine," for example, provides a character sketch of a seductive vampire over bouncing rhythms.
An unflinching honesty permeates the album: Khan channels anxieties over loving too strongly on "Safe Tonight," while "Mountains" finds comfort in reflection. Pleasure and happiness live alongside unease on Lost Girls. Khan is able to pierce through the darkness while still honouring it, and in doing so, acknowledges the validity of her emotions.
(AWAL)Woven together by defined bass lines, propulsive beats and a wash of synths, the album marries Khan's love of iconic '80s tracks like the Blue Nile's "Tinseltown in the Rain" with a love story that finds release in choosing to be vulnerable.
Khan's newfound home of Los Angeles seeps into the record's fabric, the tumbling beats of "Desert Man" and "Peach Sky" capturing scenes set against the city's expansive surrounding areas. Loosely based on a script she was writing at the time of the album's conception, Lost Girls is imbued with a cinematic quality; "Jasmine," for example, provides a character sketch of a seductive vampire over bouncing rhythms.
An unflinching honesty permeates the album: Khan channels anxieties over loving too strongly on "Safe Tonight," while "Mountains" finds comfort in reflection. Pleasure and happiness live alongside unease on Lost Girls. Khan is able to pierce through the darkness while still honouring it, and in doing so, acknowledges the validity of her emotions.
