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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Horse And I |
| 2. Trophy |
| 3. Tahiti |
| 4. What's A Girl To Do? |
| 5. Sad Eyes |
| 6. The Wizard |
| 7. Prescilla |
| 8. The Bat's Mouth |
| 9. Seal Jubilee |
| 10. Sarah |
| 11. I Saw A Light |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Look at Natasha Khan, with her Cleopatra shawl and elfish hair, on the cover of Fur and Gold and you’ll surely have this half-Pakistani, half-English songstress pegged as the first British riposte to the US freak-folk movement that’s thrown up figures like Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, and Cocorosie. In some ways, that’s an accurate comparison: Bat for Lashes has a way with mystique, one which elevates even quite simple topics-–the break-up tale of "What’s a Girl to Do?"-–into grand achievements of ghostly trauma: "My bat-lightning heart," she whispers, "Wants to fly away". Dig a little deeper, though, because the music to be found on Fur and Gold has a more complex provenance. "Horse and I", a harpsichord-led track embellished with Theremin and a militaristic drum motif, is the sort of vintage-modern soundscape reminiscent of Bjork at her most restrained, while elsewhere the dramatic tale-telling of "Prescilla" and "Bat’s Mouth" suggest Bat for Lashes might yet develop into a songwriter of the poetic calibre of Kate Bush. The debut album from Bat for Lashes is a haunting, richly orchestrated work that, for all its experimentation and intelligence, is emotional and deeply moving. --Louis Pattison
Review
Bat For Lashes is the creation of Natasha Khan, a Pakistan-born, Brighton based songwriter. Her concept for Fur And Gold was to make something that started at dusk and finished up in the glorious sunlight. That gives you an idea of what this ethereal, cinematic, fantastical album sounds like.
Natasha's soaring howls, whispers and joyous singing are the main focus here. As beguiling as Bjork, as stunning as Sinead O'Connor and as dramatic as Kate Bush, it is her voice that dominates. The often minimal backdrop of haunting strings, unusual percussive instruments and drum machines provides the perfect accompaniment.
"What's A Girl To Do?" with its dreamy vocals and dramatic bassline is a highlight while "Prescilla" has a magical uplifting quality. What sets Bats For Lashes apart from the usual crop of indie bands is the originality of the songwriting. With its lyrical roots in fairy tales and nursery rhymes, Khan sings of forbidden desire, sinister dreams and magical kingdoms.
Mature gothic sounds for those willing to be whisked off to beautiful faraway lands. --Dan Tallis
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Well, I dont know many albums that start with a harpsichord melody that sounds so simple that it may as well have come out of one of my childhood keyboards, but still retains a certain baroqueness about it. But here we are! Bat For Lashes is essentially Nataschka Khan's band, a gifted singer/songwriter who mixes a Bjork-like individuality with unusual instrumentation and graceful songwriting. The album relies mostly on piano/keyboard/violin melodies and Khan's direct yet soft vocals.
Listening to it, there doesnt seem to be a definitive song for this band, as each of the 11 tracks on offer here sound unique. That doesnt mean they're all winners; all of the songs can be praised for individuality but some for being unmemorable. This, in turn, makes haunting piano-led ballad 'Sad Eyes' stand out, aswell as opener 'Horse And I' with its impressive vocal melodies. Album highlight would be 'The Bat's Mouth', which slowly builds to a beautiful melodic pinnacle of optimism and ends with a lovely quiet ending, touching violin lines and all.
Unusual, varied, slightly moody but not depressing, individualistic and slightly poppy would be the best way to describe it. Whilst 'Fur And Gold' isnt a classic its got plenty of memorable moments on it, and it bodes well for Khan's career if she's making songs this good on her debut.
Listening to it, there doesnt seem to be a definitive song for this band, as each of the 11 tracks on offer here sound unique. That doesnt mean they're all winners; all of the songs can be praised for individuality but some for being unmemorable. This, in turn, makes haunting piano-led ballad 'Sad Eyes' stand out, aswell as opener 'Horse And I' with its impressive vocal melodies. Album highlight would be 'The Bat's Mouth', which slowly builds to a beautiful melodic pinnacle of optimism and ends with a lovely quiet ending, touching violin lines and all.
Unusual, varied, slightly moody but not depressing, individualistic and slightly poppy would be the best way to describe it. Whilst 'Fur And Gold' isnt a classic its got plenty of memorable moments on it, and it bodes well for Khan's career if she's making songs this good on her debut.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
We saw this girl and her mostly female band at Glastonbury, and were instantly mesmerised by her melodic voice and the band's members subtle use of the weird sounding instruments and great backing vocals.In addition,they were able to change around instruments between themselves, creating some brilliant music that was in total control all times, a wonderful sound that was different but somehow familiar.
We ordered the CD from Amazon, who were out stock, but it arrived two weeks before they said it would, have been playing it ever since,just magical.
Bob and Barb Townsend
We ordered the CD from Amazon, who were out stock, but it arrived two weeks before they said it would, have been playing it ever since,just magical.
Bob and Barb Townsend
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Awful name for a band but then people kept mentioning Bjork and Kate Bush in the same sentence as Natasha Khan's band of female musical mavericks, so I decided Bat For Lashes could be ignored no more. Why did I wait!
What made the early Kate Bush and Bjork records so special was their naivety and total lack of self-consciousness coupled with a wonderful, if off-kilter, pop sensibility. And it's that which Bat For Lashes have in spades.
While our two maturing heroines have become increasingly avant guard or insular, Khan remains fresh-faced, up-beat and in love with the melodic possibilities of a simple pop hook. And, hand on heart, there is not a song on the album that has me reaching for the track-skipping switch.
This is a fine record, perhaps the best I have heard in the past 12 months, that deserves a wide audience. We need pop mavericks (even if they do sing about wizards, bats etc) and Natasha Khan more than carries the torch. Great stuff.
What made the early Kate Bush and Bjork records so special was their naivety and total lack of self-consciousness coupled with a wonderful, if off-kilter, pop sensibility. And it's that which Bat For Lashes have in spades.
While our two maturing heroines have become increasingly avant guard or insular, Khan remains fresh-faced, up-beat and in love with the melodic possibilities of a simple pop hook. And, hand on heart, there is not a song on the album that has me reaching for the track-skipping switch.
This is a fine record, perhaps the best I have heard in the past 12 months, that deserves a wide audience. We need pop mavericks (even if they do sing about wizards, bats etc) and Natasha Khan more than carries the torch. Great stuff.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
AN ASTONISHING ALBUM!!!
It's an astonishing album!!! Indubitably...One of my favourite discs. I encourage Natasha to keep on this way!!!
(PRINCESS-LULLABY)
FRANCE
(PRINCESS-LULLABY)
FRANCE
Published 16 months ago by Princess-Lullaby
Hit The Ground Running
Although their second album, Two Suns, may be better known, Bat For Lashes hit the ground running with their first offering, Fur and Gold. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Andy K
Dreadful
Dull, pretentious, talentless rubbish. I can't believe I paid money for this garbage (thankfully not a great deal). Read more
Published 21 months ago by D. Spencer
Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold
I don't usually automatically download anything from my recommendations, but on this occasion, I downloaded this after listening to the samples. Read more
Published 23 months ago by MarcF
An odd combination of twee and Gothic that only intermittently works
I want to like her music. I'm quite partial to Gothic music and everything about her suggests that she would be my type of thing. Unfortunately her music just isn't that strong. Read more
Published on 27 May 2010 by BS on parade
I like it.
The tag suggestions say it all: cocteau twins, indie, gothic, natasha khan, alternative, pop, indie rock, kate bush, pj harvey .
Published on 13 May 2010 by Mr. S. C. Martin
Fall Under The Spell...
This album is simply beautiful, from start to finish.
The music is enchanting, dreamy, dark and even sometimes playful, you can't help but fall for this. Read more
The music is enchanting, dreamy, dark and even sometimes playful, you can't help but fall for this. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2009 by Ms. L. J. Braisby
Recommended
Having bought the second album by this amazing artist we then went to a live concert.
We of course were not familiar with some of the songs so decided to purchase the first... Read more
We of course were not familiar with some of the songs so decided to purchase the first... Read more
Published on 7 Nov 2009 by krissie
Fur & Gold
Bat for Lashes star Natasha Khan went into Stella orbit on the release of her latest album Two Suns, if you like it I think you will also like this album, Natasha's unique &... Read more
Published on 22 Sep 2009 by Mr. Colin P. Hewes
Superb haunting music with fantastic expression in the voice
I discovered Bat for Lashes on the TV - on "Later with Jools Holland" and was entranced. So I went and bought this album and the next albumTwo Suns. Read more
Published on 30 July 2009 by Craig Forster
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