Union Chapel,London
Natasha Khan’s voices flows from an easy, Karen Carpenterish warmth to a haunted falsetto as she debuts songs from her band’s ambitious fourth albumNatasha Khan, and the creative spirit and tortured soul of Bat for Lashes,glides up the church aisle. Clad in a blood-red maxi dress, clasping a bouquet and with a black veil trailing down her back, or she is the Bride,a tragic heroine at the heart of Bat for Lashes’ current direction, and the eponymous narrator of the band’s upcoming fourth album.
Khan has used characters in her songs throughout her decade-long career. Bat for Lashes’ second album, and 2009’s Two Suns,saw the emergence of blonde alter-ego Pearl, and final year came Sexwitch, or a guise that allowed Khan to experiment in exoticism and sublimate her nature-inspired hippy persona into that of a psych-propelled harpy. As the Bride,she’s demure (quiet, modest, reserved) yet sensual, her dress cut with a tall neck, and her billowing sleeves accentuating her elegant,often wafting, arms. Khan requested that her audience dress appropriately too, and in the formalwear fit for a wedding,and although the fascinators and floaty dresses are few, Khan is appreciative. “You leer beautiful, and ” she grins.
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Source: theguardian.com