The first CD I ever owned was the soundtrack to the hit show Friends. It was the mid-90s, I was in grade eight and it came alongside my very first CD player on my 13th birthday. After breaking the ice with that amazing compilation I came upon Bjork's Post and unknown hours wailing "Hyperballad". In there somewhere I backtracked all over Sinead O'Connor's catalogue and Annie Lennox released Medusa helping me realize an uncontrollable love for the genre I lovingly refer to as 80s Drama Rock. Amid all the music I love so much, this corner might be my favourite, the one that elicits the most shoulder moves and chills down my spine. I'm not sure what it is, I just love it.
I recently posted about Bat for Lashes' new album Two Suns and have been listening like crazy. Pulling together obvious influences (reverential rather than bastardized, I assure you) like those mentioned above, Natasha Khan seems to come by it all so naturally. Born in the late 70s, perhaps she came up like I did - always lying in wait for her parents to leave the house so she could blast Sinead's "Jerusalem" or "Troy" while throwing herself around her bedroom like some kind of disabled modern dancer. Or maybe that was just me. Whatever the case, Khan seems to be soaked in the sounds she employs, never verging on put-on or disingenuous.
A great next-step from her debut, the Mercury-nominated Fur and Gold, her follow-up is rich and fully-realized, ranging from early (and also Choirgirl-era) Tori Amos through to more modern, danceable artists like Roisin Murphy. The through line is a plethora of organic instruments, heavy bass lines and fantastical programming. She and co-producer David Kosten (who also worked on her debut) layer in seemingly endless amounts of atmospheric background sounds, all adding up to anything but a sophomore slump - theatrical, big and dynamic. I don't call it 80s Drama Rock for nothing. But for all the epic songs, there are a few smaller ones too - On "Moon and Moon" it's mainly piano and voice, a beautiful and cryptic song. "Siren Song" starts out meditative and then grows, exploding into a piano-driven timpani-thumper. I live for this.
A great next-step from her debut, the Mercury-nominated Fur and Gold, her follow-up is rich and fully-realized, ranging from early (and also Choirgirl-era) Tori Amos through to more modern, danceable artists like Roisin Murphy. The through line is a plethora of organic instruments, heavy bass lines and fantastical programming. She and co-producer David Kosten (who also worked on her debut) layer in seemingly endless amounts of atmospheric background sounds, all adding up to anything but a sophomore slump - theatrical, big and dynamic. I don't call it 80s Drama Rock for nothing. But for all the epic songs, there are a few smaller ones too - On "Moon and Moon" it's mainly piano and voice, a beautiful and cryptic song. "Siren Song" starts out meditative and then grows, exploding into a piano-driven timpani-thumper. I live for this.
The album is available on iTunes now - In the meantime check out these, the album-opener "Glass" and the beautiful "Moon and Moon".
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