Bat for Lashes’ “Laura” Marks Triumphant Return

Her new album doesn’t drop until October, but after waiting for 3 whole years, a couple more months for fans of Natasha Khan (A.K.A. Bat for Lashes) is a breeze.  This third release from Khan is called The Haunted Man and promises to re-hash her old themes of love, self-identity, and sorrow, as well as tackle new troubles in the artist’s creative psyche.

Khan has always been both a visual artist and a musician.  Her unique style propelled her into modest popularity with her catchy and mysterious song Daniel, and she garnered a cult following for her duet with Beck on the Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack.  Her songs have always told a story (however vague that story may be), and have tied into a greater vision of a dark world of magic, reverie, and occasional joy.

The cover art for this new album paints a portrait of a very small but strong woman who can defeat her obstacles and make peace with them.  The haunted man is draped around her shoulders, hanging as though incapacitated.  Natasha clearly isn’t going anywhere, but the look in her eyes is focused hard somewhere in the distance, somewhere urgent.

Shot by photographer Ryan McGinley, the cover art represents a period of transformation for Natasha; it seems to be a way of saying that she’s not holding anything back anymore.  She describes the concept of this new album as “raw” and “stripped back,” paying homage to women like punk rock icon Patti Smith.

The Bat carries the Haunted Man on her shoulders.

In the documentary for her last album, Two + Two, Natasha expressed her dislike of the touring life, her desire to settle down, and her conflicting drive to be a successful creator while simultaneously living a normal life.  And Natasha has, despite her misgivings, chosen to come back onto the indie pop scene and release another album.  I’ll admit that I was skeptical as to whether or not she would muster up the courage, or give up a “normal” existence, to do this again, but damn am I glad that she did.

But the new single “Laura” isn’t one that will propel her to the top of the mainstream pop charts, and that is something that fans are also happy about.  In the video, she’s seen dancing with an old drag queen, wearing similar dresses, and singing about her creative career.  It’s almost as if they’re the same person.

The song’s plaintive refrain goes like this:

You’re the train that crashed my heart
You’re the glitter in the dark
Ooh, Laura you’re more than a superstar
And in this horror show
I’ve got to let you know
Ooh, Laura you’re more than a superstar
You’re more than a superstar

Natasha dances with Laura.

As we await the album’s release, we can’t help but wonder:  will Natasha be propelled to super-stardom with this album, or will she achieve some kind of deeper, more meaningful success?  Will she be shielded from the soul-crushing success that her “Laura” seemingly suffered?

All I can say is that I’m hopeful Natasha’s future success in the music industry brings her everything she could possibly need: joy in the making of art and the expression of the soul, avoiding the rat-race, the flesh fair, and the dirty money of the popular music industry.

Natasha embraces whatever the future holds.