Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 3/5 Released: July 31, 2007 Reviewer: Garth Paulson |
The recent North American release of Bat for Lashes’ Fur and Gold (originally released in the UK Sept. 11, 2006) and the increased exposure that comes along with being shortlisted for the Mercury Prize has lead to something of a second life for the album. Listening to it with fresh ears now—a full year removed from its original context—reveals a conflicted album sometimes deserving of the longevity and heightened awareness it has received and sometimes completely unremarkable.
To its credit, Fur and Gold starts off remarkably well. The plunky harpsichord, marching band drums and distant theremin on the lead track ‘Horse and I’ combine to produce what is easily the album’s strongest song. Unfortunately, ‘Horse and I’ is so strong that the rest of the album can’t hope to live up to its precedent. A few songs come close, like ‘Trophy,’ which rides a glacial house beat and handclaps to its spooky highs, and ‘Prescilla,’ which accomplishes an awful lot with little more than a strummed autoharp and a ramshackle beat. But too many of Fur and Gold’s 11 tracks come off sounding like uninspired Tori Amos B-sides or the dullest corner of Bjork’s spectrum.
Fortunately, Khan’s thick vocals possess a powerful range, able to hit the delicate intimacy of Chan Marshall at one moment while coming close to the bombastic power of the aforementioned Icelandic star the next. This vocal performance keeps even the dreariest moments of Fur and Gold mildly interesting. The combination of the album’s few standout tracks and Khan’s fire siren vocals provide a convincing argument of why Bat for Lashes’ debut continues to merit discussion and receive spins long after most albums have comfortably settled into their half-forgotten spot on the shelf.
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