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As evidenced by the Bat For Lashes song at No. 28, which combines Wall Of Sound drums and girl-group choruses with a real-time description of falling out of love.
I first heard–and really, really liked–Bat For Lashes’ Fur And Gold in late 2006, but for whatever reason “What’s A Girl To Do?,” Natasha Khan’s chronicle of a woman’s waning romantic feelings for her lover, didn’t really blossom in my mind until mid-2007. The video, in which Khan and a bunch of furries go all BMX, probably helped, although not because of the ickle bunnies; for me, the video succeeded because it lifted “Girl” out of the context of the album, revealing its perfect inversion of the girl-group formula. Like many songs from that era, “Girl” possesses an overall feeling of longing, but it’s different than the sadness that emanates from being rejected; instead, the minor-key “Girl,” and its windblown backing choruses, capture the slow dread that creeps over a person when they’re spurning someone who they do, deep down, care for.
Also, I feel like I would be doing all of you a disservice if I didn’t post the oddest fan-made video I’ve found for any song on my year-end list:
Tragic, ain’t it? And I’m not just talking about the plot.
Bat For Lashes – What’s A Girl To Do [YouTube]
Bat For Lashes [MySpace]
Idolator’s 2007 Top 40 List Of Awesomeness
that silly fan video also cut off the last few seconds of the song! god, kids don’t understand anything.
All that is missing from that weird fan video is the Lawnmower Man. Him, or Dire Straits.
this track is pretty good, but the rest of the album is incredibly dull and derivative — i’m still disappointed.
@therichgirlsareweeping:
what richgirls said
one great song the rest is Tori in a bad way
Tori? Huh?
There is some obvious influences, but she doesn’t exactly sound like her (Khan more of a blend between Amos and Bjork, but ignores the sometimes obnoxious flourishing of either) and she certainly doesn’t write like her.
“Sad Eyes” made me cry the first time I heard it.
I think it’s one of the very best things to have come out recently.
It’s hard for me to describe this album – it’s too introverted, too shy to really compete with all the other noises in the room when you play it in the daytime.
It expands over the ‘phones in the dark, tho’, into something colourful, detailed and large, as if you’ve been let into Khan’s own dreamworld, one which is as illogical and insubstantial as all dreamworlds are, but as hauntingly beautiful as the best dreams sometimes get.
Which is to say, it ought to be too precious by half but is actually quite the pretty pop gem.
And yes, Sad Eyes is a thing of beauty.