The Dream of Delphi
Since her breakthrough with 2006’s critically acclaimed *Fur and Gold*, Natasha Khan has embodied 21st-century witchy mysticism, seeming to pull her synthy, sensuous chamber pop from the great beyond. Where past records were springboards for high-concept world-building (2016’s *The Bride* hinged around a grieving woman whose fiancé died en route to their wedding, and 2019’s *Lost Girls* followed an all-girl biker gang through the dystopian streets of LA), her sixth record as Bat for Lashes brings her storytelling back home. On *The Dream of Delphi*, she mythologizes her early motherhood (she gave birth to her first child in 2020) with songs that ripple with strings, elegant piano, and gentle synth arpeggios. Khan sings her wispy, haiku-esque lyrics directly to her newborn: “Your life an echo, my darling, of all before/Your life an echo, my darling, of all to come,” she coos on “Letter to My Daughter.” The outlier is the soaring “Home” (on whose credits appear club gods Hudson Mohawke and Baauer), which escapes from the nursery and makes its way to the dance floor.
The singer-songwriter’s new album tackles the tenderness of motherhood with a series of transportive, ambient-adjacent experiments.
The Ivor Novello-winning artist's sixth record is another compelling listen as Khan moves into a new phase creatively and personally
The Dream Of Delphi reveals Bat For Lashes at her most vulnerable and raw like never before
Natasha Khan's sixth album is her most intimate and focused, exploring her feelings and state of mind following the birth of her daughter.
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There aren't many major lyrical tropes in music that drive an artist's oeuvre, compelling them to leave the house to tinker with instruments in a studio.
Bat for Lashes’s ‘The Dream of Delphi’ is poignant and dreamily spiritual without ever succumbing to preciousness.
Bat For Lashes - The Dream of Delphi review: A spiritual journey into motherhood.
Bat For Lashes’ Natasha Khan takes on an alter-ego for this new album of improvised songs about love for her daughter Delphi
Natasha Khan’s sixth album is a collection of ‘song poems’ exploring the idea of the ‘mother witch’
Sixth album from exploratory singer-songwriter embraces motherhood but not tunes. Album New Music review by Thomas H Green