Bat For Lashes, conceptually, is largely about competing with life. Her percussion sounds like feet running around the track, rather than feet running away from something frightening. The directness from ‘The Haunted Man’ comes, like it’s cover, from a nakedness. Despite its ostensible melodrama, Khan’s third record is an honest and forceful blend of glamorous art-rock and emotive depth. A driving self-belief propels the messages here: one that comes close to optimism but is far too grounded to rely on such daydreamy faith. On one of the decade’s most riveting pop records, BFL deployed pumping arrangements and piano-led, artistic subtlety.
26/30
A favourite: ‘All Your Gold’
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