Bat for Lashes at Shepherds Bush Empire (19/04/09)

No doubt that the word to leap to in describing School of Seven Bells is shoegaze - their guitarist, long fringe covering his face, even maintains the correct downward facing pose throughout. Their differentiating tricks are light electronic beats and their two singers, weaving between unison and harmony in a manner that my friend very distractingly (but sort of accurately) compared to Abba. All quite enjoyable but the fine definition needed to appreciate for more than a couple of unfamiliar songs doesn’t really work in a large-ish venue.




It occurs at some point during Bat for Lashes' set that Natasha Khan constantly mines a very limited and specific lyrical vocabulary to remarkable effect - not quite on the levels of Brett Anderson in his prime, but not far off. Possibly it’s the realisation that running in the dark/night is central to both “Daniel” and "Pearl's Dream" that tips it over the edge. Two Suns’ repeated twos, hearts, fires, space, stars, moons and darkness clearly and deliberately step the thematic links up a gear, but it’s not like they weren’t there before. Musically she has moved much further from the early days to expansive and dramatic variety of sounds of the new album.

That actually poses a bit of a problem live when it comes to some of the new songs that are heavier on context and studio work – “Peace of Mind” just doesn’t work without its choir. “Travelling Woman” also unsurprisingly flags as the closest thing to filler on Two Suns. Where the songs fall within the scope of the band to deliver, though, they are on top form. “Glass” makes for a monumental opener, between Natasha building from subdued to accessing previously unknown vocal range and its intense rhythmic climax. The amazing, forceful drumming is also foregrounded in “Two Planets”, the most fully realised tying of the record’s themes to music on a similarly cosmic scale.

But although the second album is the better by far, it’s the cherry-picked highlights of Fur and Gold that stand out even more and get the warmest reception, from the galloping statement of purpose “Horse and I” to whimsical “The Wizard”. An excellent bare-bones harpsichord version of “Prescilla” even inspires multiple uncoordinated attempts to clap the rhythm, about which the best to say is that hearts were in the right place.

Of the new songs "Moon and Moon" (which she has been playing live since at least the show three years ago that I linked above!) is the only one to achieve the same charged emotional intimacy as powered Fur and Gold and makes for a beautiful encore. Then she almost wastes all the good work by coming out for a second encore to play current single "Daniel" for a second time. Really unnecessary and a long way from the best she has to offer.