Bat for Lashes + Snoop Lion | Tracks

“Laura”
Bat for Lashes

Career longevity hinges on reinvention. Art school refugee Natasha Khan knows this. As Bat for Lashes, the London songstress was at the top of the dream-pop tide not so long ago, leading a wave of new artists paying belated homage to Kate Bush and Stevie Nicks with shimmering sound washes and matching wardrobes. A distinct ’80s tint colored “Daniel” on her last disc, so it’s fitting that the first single off a recently announced follow-up, The Haunted Man, addresses yet another character in her growing cast: Laura. Like the artwork for the forthcoming album, which shows her stripped bare, naughty bits concealed by a gaunt male draped over her shoulders, Khan is at her most exposed here, nearly trembling as solemn piano chords are faintly pressed. Horns swell gently around her voice as it lifts into the chorus: “Oh, Laura / You’re more than a superstar.” Who Laura is hardly matters, though an accompanying video teases one possibility. Bravely forgoing trendy pop machinery, Bat for Lashes shows us she’s still a step ahead of her peers.