Track Listing

1. Glass
2. Sleep Alone
3. Moon and Moon
4. Daniel
5. Peace Of Mind
6. Siren Song
7. Pearl's Dream
8. Good Love
9. Two Planets
10. Travelling Woman
11. The Big Sleep

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #408 in Music
• Released on: 2009-04-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: CD
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Love, and the loss of love, consumes every second of Two Suns, the second album from Brighton-based Natasha Khan’s Bat For Lashes. But if you’re looking for anything as prosaic as a straightforward love song, you won’t find it here: Two Suns is every bit as heady, dramatic and fanciful as its predecessor Fur And Gold, its narratives of romance and heartbreak elevated into tales of knights in crystal armour, sailors lost at sea, and planets held in orbit; rich with imagery, and with sonic ambition to match. Kate Bush remains the obvious antecedent: Khan’s melodramatic vocals are a close ringer, and even relatively sparse moments like "Moon And Moon" are presented with grand, baroque arrangements of piano and strings, rich with detail. But such quasi-medieval textures are balanced out by neat excursions into electronic pop, best experienced on "Pearl’s Dream", noir-ish disco swathed in icy synthesisers. Finally, there’s an unexpected cameo on "The Big Sleep", a gothic epilogue that sees Scott Walker duet with Khan in his high, operatic quaver. A big step forwards from Bat For Lashes’ debut, and a suggestion of good things to come. ––Louis Pattison

CD Description
'Two Suns' is the follow-up to 2007's highly-acclaimed 'FurAnd Gold' from Brighton-based indie songstress Bat For Lashes. Having received a Mercury nomination for her first outing, the singer, real name Natasha Khan, returns in blisteringform. 'Two Suns' builds on the the sound that fans have come to know and love, while guest appearances come from Yeasayer and the legendary Scott Walker. Includes the dreamy, atmospheric single 'Daniel'.

Customer Reviews

Refreshingly Impressive!
This is a stunningly good album. Natasha Khan sings with great beauty and passion; comparisons have been made with Kate Bush, but I would say she's closer to Tori Amos. But that's all academic - what matters is the terrific songs and that wonderful voice. Really interesting arrangements, rhythms, sonic surprises - this is a work of quality. This is refreshing and original music. I highly recommend this album.

Stunning, beautiful, incredible...
I can't think of enough superlatives to describe this record.

I have the first Bat For Lashes album and am not a huge fan of it, so didn't really expect myself to buy her second offering, but after hearing 'Daniel' on the Rob da Bank show it sounded like she was moving in a slightly more mature and experimental direction and so I gave Two Suns a shot.

The album is moving much more into the Bjork-y shaped pigeon hole people seem to be pushing her towards, more musically than vocally. There's a lot of dominant drumming, very tribal in places and it gives the album a real drive. This is particularly noticeable on 'Two Planets' and 'Glass', in which the drum rhythms are reminiscent of early LFO and Bjork's 'Post'.

Vocally it's reminiscent of Kate Bush and Joanna Newsom, as well as Bjork, as those who heard the first record will know.

The stand out tracks are 'Daniel' and 'Pearl's Dream', dreamy pieces that don't lack impetus but really embody the innovative, more developed sound that Bat For Lashes seems to have found.

There are also comparisons to be drawn with other seminal female artists, such as PJ Harvey and CocoRosie, noticeably on the piano-led 'Travelling Woman'. And I have no doubt that in a few years this will be looked back on as a seminal record in itself.

A Little Nachtmusik Does No Harm
As a creature of the night myself Bat For Lashes
latest release 'Two Suns' is a welcome event.

Ms Khan and her motley associates delighted us in
2007 with the quietly splendid 'Fur and Gold'.

She returns here with a set of 11 new compositions
suffused with the scents and sounds of the night.
Songs like fragile moonbeams shining
through partly open curtains.

Truth be told Ms Khan's voice is not the greatest of
instruments but she manages her limitations with good grace.
What she does possess by the bucketload, however, is
a sure understanding of the power of atmosphere and this more
than compensates for her lack of technical vocal prowess.

Much has already been made of her influences.
Suffice to say she wears her heart on her sleeve
and there will always be room in my world for one
more pleasantly eccentric female singer/songwriter.

Highlights must include opening track 'Glass' whose
deceptively haunting opening bars quickly catapault
us into the almost brutal jangling percussive heart
of this darkly magnificent song's main subject.
A persuasively powerful introduction performed with passion.

The fragile melody and spare arrangement of 'Peace Of Mind',
with it's curiously affecting gospel-like chorus takes us
in a somewhat new musical direction.
Ms Khan clearly has more than just one string to her bow.

'Moon and Moon' is a gorgeous ballad brimful of silvery light.

'Pearl's Dream', with it's trance-like rhythms, may well soon make
an appearance on the country's more enlightened dancefloors.

'Two Planets' also makes it's mark.
I have always been a big fan of the judicious use of handclapping.
It's prudent inclusion here is particularly satisfying.

Single release 'Daniel' is a rather dull and disappointing track.
A little too redolent of Fleetwood Mac and not in a good way.

'Travelling Woman', however more than redeems this minor lack
of judgement. The simple keyboard and drum arrangement perfectly
enhances what I would deem to be Ms Khan's finest moment.

The album concludes on a truly desolate note with 'The Big Sleep'.
Having persuaded Scott Walker to emerge from his hermit-like
isolation is an extraordinary feat.
The resulting "duet" ( despite the fact that the two vocal parts
were recorded in entirely separate crypts ) is a chilling denouement.

Ms Khan's co-production with the equally talented Mr Kosten
is to be highly commended, as are the musical contributions
from her consistently sympathetic cohorts.

Highly Recommended.