The Haunted Man

Bat for Lashes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 22, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B008AU7F3C
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,065 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Bat For Lashes aka Natasha Khan s highly anticipated
third album, The Haunted Man. The first track from the new album
Laura was named BEST NEW TRACK by Pitchfork.
com will be followed by All Your Gold.
Natasha Khan, Bat for Lashes first captured hearts
back in 2006 with a set of distinctively haunting and
rich, darkly phantasmagoric songs ripe with magic
realism. Her sensual and gilt-decorated dream world
was opened up in two Mercury Music Prize nominated
albums, the atavistic, reverb-drenched Fur and Gold
(2006) and 2009 s more electronically poppy Two
Suns. The latter featured the irresistible Daniel
which won Ms Khan an Ivor Novello award for Best
Contemporary Song and was recorded in London
and across America.
Bat For Lashes toured with Coldplay in 2010,
collaborated with Beck to write a song for the Twilight
film, Eclipse, headlined two sold out shows at the Sydney
Opera House in June 2011 and covered Depeche
Mode s Strangelove for Gucci s Guilty campaign.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Natasha Kahn's back with a stunningly gorgeous album of love and loves lost October 22, 2012

By Jack Tripper TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

I must admit that this album, Bat For Lashes' third, took me by complete and utter surprise. While I'm normally drawn to more guitar-driven music, I am somewhat familiar with her past work, having enjoyed the occasional song featured on music blogs and such. But nothing could have prepared me for the lush soundscapes, exquisite vocals, and evocative, moving lyrics spread throughout 'The Haunted Man.' If you were to combine all of the best attributes from PJ Harvey, The Cocteau Twins, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Portishead, Kate Bush, and Cat Power, you might get a general idea of the musical artistry to be discovered on this album. It may seem somewhat sexist to do so, but it's hard not to compare Bat For Lashes' work here to those other groundbreaking, (mostly) female artists because, although Natasha Khan definitely carves her own path, she continues the tradition of uniquely talented women pushing the envelope, musically and lyrically, to create her own brand of genuine, introspective, blissful-yet-dramatic art-pop, much like the aforementioned artists.

A perfect example is "Lilies," which opens the album on an atmospheric, serene note, with angelic vocals over a swirling arrangement of synthesizers, strings, horns, and pounding bass that totally envelops the listener. When, at the end, she belts, "Thank God I'm alive," it's nearly overwhelming. And that's just the opener. The exhilarating, freeing sound of "All Your Gold" is actually quite heartbreaking lyrically--concerning a woman's "good man," who she can't commit to wholeheartedly due to her strong, lingering feelings for a past love--which creates some conflicting emotions within the listener, resulting in a unique and powerful listen....

The synth-dominated, gorgeously-sung majestic beauty of "Oh Yeah" was impossible for me to keep from animatedly (and ridiculously) bobbing my head to it's slow-thumping, stuttering beats while driving last night, but the centerpiece of the album, for me, is undoubtedly "Laura," a devastatingly beautiful, no-frills piano-laden ballad. It might be the least progressive, most traditional singer-songwriter type of song here, yet the sparsely arranged production--with only a gentle horn accompanying the piano--allows the listener to focus on the soul-stirring (and again brilliantly sung) lyrics, creating the perfect atmosphere to forget everything and lose oneself in for a few minutes.

"Winter Fields" contains some pretty impressive dream-like lyrical imagery, such as "In sub-zero, I can't stand still, colors of absence flooding the hills," turning Natasha's emotions into visually clear musical paintings in the listener's mind, and, combined with the rich, dense synths and gentle woodwind over a hypnotic, propulsive beat, creates a feeling that can only be described as euphoric. "A Wall" is probably the most instantly catchy song on the album, with a huge chorus that layers intertwining vocals and synths, with lyrics--"When you see a wall, I see a door..."--that, again, are extremely uplifting when combined with the soaring music.

The album ends, much like it began, on an eerie, atmospheric note with "Deep Sea Diver," which contains some haunting vocals over an almost scary curlicue piano-riff, ominous bass, and trip-hop beats, capping off 52 near-perfect minutes of some of the most stunning and sublime songs in modern pop music. It did take a few listens for me to break through the the (at times) "icy" exterior, but if Bat For Lashes' previous albums are even half as powerful and moving as 'The Haunted Man,' then she has definitely found herself a new fan. Fan as in "short for fanatic." And I have a feeling there will be more than a handful of fellow new fanatics coming forward in the next few weeks. I'm just glad I've finally given her music my undivided attention, and I for one can't wait to hear where she goes from here.

Good thing I have two more new-to-me albums to keep me occupied in the meantime.

{P.S. I'm really peeved I didn't get the memo concerning auditions for a "bony male, to be hoisted over a naked Natasha's shoulders." Kidding...OK I'm not.} Read more ›

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Warm and Intimate October 22, 2012

By Ailene Evangelista

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Two weeks of listening to it, and I am completely in love with this album. While not as immediately captivating as Two Suns was, it takes a few listens to reveals it's beauty, but believe me when I say it'll get under your skin and it'll stay with you. Don't judge it on just one listen! It's more intimate then the last two records (which I cannot recommend enough, if you like The Haunted Man), but it also feels more mainstream to me, more accessible? Without losing that Bat For Lashes charm. Easily one of the best albums of 2012. Favorite tracks are Lilies, Marilyn, The Haunted Man and Laura.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars New Album, New Natasha October 23, 2012

By K. Slechta

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I came across Bat For Lashes mostly in part to a tiny 3 x 3 ad in the back of an issue of the now defunct Paste Magazine. The ad was simple and small, but extremely noticeable amongst the sea of other artists on the pages past the reviews. It featured a picture of a beautiful woman adorned in gold peacock feathers, sitting in the corner of a boxing ring. There was something so bizarre and surreal about the image that unlocked something deep within me and made me search the web for her immediately. "Fur And Gold" was unlike anything I'd ever heard in my whole life and I fell in love almost immediately with Natasha's haunting voice. The songs painted images of animals in the wild and people dancing in a dark forest around campfire, dressed in feathers and furs. Two years later "Two Suns" came out. It retained the mystique that "Fur and Gold" had, but Natasha perfected her songwriting and kept the same space tribal sound. I couldn't stop listening to it and each track has gained over a hundred plays since it's release. Three more years have passed, and now we have Natasha's next endeavor, "The Haunted Man"

"The Haunted Man" features a much more matured, even a bit peppier version of the music we've heard on Natasha's last two albums. While it has lost much of the ethereal feeling that emanated from the heart of "Two Suns", it's still a fantastic set of music from Miss Khan. It's easy to hear how much she has grown as a musician over the nine years since "Fur and Gold". In a sense you can feel how she has changed over her years of touring and collaborations.... She's created a more up-beat rendition of her signature sound, trading in her harpsichords and tribal drums for a stronger synth presence and electronic drumbeats. Most of the songs here can easily be heard on an alt rock radio station; as opposed to only a select few tracks from past albums I could deem "radio worthy". The songs generally are much catchier and "poppy" than past works, and I often find myself randomly singing chorus lines throughout the day. Personally I can't help but feel a tiny bit disappointed that her sound has changed, but it's not a complete disappointment as she has crafted some wonderful music in this new sound.

The album has bit of a slow start, but opening track "Lilies" will start to grow on you after multiple listens. It's not as memorable as the first tracks from her first two LP's, but it's still a wonderful song. "All Your Gold" is oddly reminiscent in some aspects to Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" and is probably the only song here that sounds completely out of character for Natasha. From it's fast muted bass to the odd pace of the wording in chorus; it is without a doubt one of the most energetic sounding she has done. It's a fine song, but the places where Natasha chooses to hit high notes sound a bit off at times. "Horses of the Sun" is a catchy tune that has a chorus that I just can't get enough of when I hear it. "Oh Yeah" is a funky electronic song that heavily features a chorus chanting 'oh yeah' backed by some spacey synth. "Laura" is definitely the strongest song of the whole album, showcasing Natasha's voice at it's most powerful. It's a slow and subtle song that features only a piano and quiet background horns. I can't help but get goose bumps every time her voice reaches it's peak in the chorus, it's simply one of the finest songs she's written. "Winter Fields" is an atmospheric song with some great orchestral and woodwind parts, interlaced with moody synthesizer work. It's easily one of the best of the album that unfortunately feels like it is cut short too soon. Had it been a minute or so longer I'd consider putting on the same level as "Laura", but sadly it seems to end just as the climax of sounds digs into your heartstrings. Title track "The Haunted Man" is a powerful song that includes a men's choir section in it's middle that leads into an explosion of sounds and lyrics by Natasha. "Marilyn" is another one near the top, has a great drumbeat with a catchy chorus. "A Wall" is kind of a silly song with its chorus "Where you see a wall, I see a door". It's not a bad one by any means, but similar to "All Your Gold" it seems a bit out of place, even with the pop sound this album has adapted. "Rest Your Head" is reminicent of darker 80's synth pop or a more somber M83. It too features one of the catchier beats of "The Haunted Man". The album finishes out with "Deep Sea Diver" a moody end to the album, but not nearly as final sounding as past albums end tracks. As for the iTunes bonus tracks "Lumen" and "Daphne", they are two very forgettable B-sides, which clearly did not make the final album for a reason. Both seem unfinished and unrealized, and do not add anything to the album itself.

I have a feeling most people who fell in love with the worlds Natasha molded in "Fur and Gold" and "Two Suns" are going to have a hard time listening to "The Haunted Man" at first. It's a definite departure from the ethereal and tribal nature of her first two albums, but she's still made some beautiful tracks. Artists of recent memory like The Strokes, Best Coast and, Interpol have changed their sound over time and sadly lost the quality of their songwriting and style. Natasha succeeds where most other artists fail. She is able to morph her sound, while keeping some of her roots, and still create some spectacular music. Songs like "Laura", "Winter Fields" and "Marilyn" will get within your being much like her previous albums did. While the rest all end up being some fantastic and catchy songs in their own respect. The album in whole doesn't seem to fit all together as well as past works of Natasha's have. Instead it consists of a bunch of well made tracks that each have a distinct personality and stand as individuals on their own. I generally end up loving albums that come together as a whole, but it's hard to consider this an album I love and really connect with like I do her first two. Individual songs get to me in different ways, but there isn't a universal feeling that the album has when played all together. "The Haunted Man" simply has to settle being one I immensely like, rather than one I have a deep love for. Read more ›

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Exciting cover art, real shame the music isn't quite as stimulating ... October 22, 2012

By Kenneth

Format:Audio CD

Music critics can be so demanding. Natasha Khan aka Bat For Lashes has already released two outstanding albums, some of the best singles in years and a slew of innovative music videos and yet the congescenti all claim she's still got something to prove on her third full length "The Haunted Man". Fortunately Natasha doesn't seem like the sort of person who reads a lot of her own press, so her recent declarations about almost deciding to leave the music world behind are probably completely unrelated to anything audacious the crits might have written about her. I shouldn't create too much of a jaudiced impression of how BFL's music has been received up to this point though, as she has been nominated for and won a number of prestigous awards for her previous work and most sensible music reviewers have spoken about how high their expectations for her latest album are in reference to the brilliance of what she's already been responsible for, opposed to claiming that she hasn't really got started yet.

"The Haunted Man" features many of the trademarks that have made former Bat For Lashes projects so successful; Icy electronc flourishes, with weepy string arrangements and a bounty of lyrics that deal with love, loss and spirituality. Unfortunately Natasha hasn't been able to pull all these elements together as seamlessly this time around though, with far too many of these songs feeling underdeveloped or simply misconceived. Opener "Lilies" starts strongly with a dreamy guitar melody and some Kate Bush-y mysticism coming through Natasha's emotive singing, but then the lyrics start to take a turn for the overblown as the song progresses and the electronica that drifts in and out feels clumsy at best.... The next three tracks that follow all suffer from similar problems "All Your Gold" and "Oh Yeah both play with some of the stuttering rhythms you might expect to find on a Santigold album whilst simultaneously attempting to enter into ballad territory, suffise to say they don't turn out too well and "Horse of the sun" although more consistent thematically and instrumentally still fails to really resonate.

"Laura" is the first moment on "The Haunted Man" that doesn't feel tainted besides a couple of lines of cringe-worthy lyrics. Natasha's combination of soaring vocals and a delicate piano melody recall the brilliance of her previous highwater mark of balladry "Moon and Moon" and interestingly enough it's a song that almost didn't make the cut for apparently being too straight forward! "Winter Fields" and the title track also offer some redemptive moments on an otherwise disappointing album, with the former mixing sombre post classical strings and invigorating synth pop flourishes and the latter making excellent use of a male vocal choir. Closer "Deep Sea Diver" serves as the greatest illustrator as to why the "The Haunted Man" as a whole has limited impact however, the song plays with some interesting musical motifs and features some intriguiging lyricism but ultimately comes to an unsatisfying finish. Natasha Khan has far from disgraced herself on her third LP, but if reports about her spending two and a half years making this are correct, it does show that her increasing desire for perfectionism might be hurting her creativy rather than enhancing it. Read more ›