Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold

I would definitely say Bat for Lashes is the best Pop act going now, so it's no surprise that I've been pretty stoked on Natasha Khan (her real name) for over a year now.  Actually, I was obsessed for a good six months until I finally discovered Kate Bush, and Natasha kind of took a back seat.  Still, there's a place in my heart for her music and I pretty regularly listen to both albums.

Many critics have called her "the second coming of Kate Bush", which does have some validity to it; but I'd say she's more of compromise between melodic nature Kate and the simpler and more rhythmic moments of Bjork.  Her music does sound very English in that it's both romantic and dreary, which, I'm always a sucker for.

On this, her first album, her voice is under-controlled, but does lend a warmer, more human quality that her second album sometimes lacks.  The production is very ambitious, from the musical saw on "Horse and I", to "Priscilla" with it's sole percussion being claps and stomps.  Of course, the driving force behind any type of Pop music is melody, of which this album does deliver.  Every song here has memorable hooks, except for a couple "experimental" (filler) tracks at the end.  I made sure to upload my own copy, as it has the bonus "I'm on Fire", which is arguably the best song on the album, and way better than Springsteen's original.

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