Bat For Lashes: 'Pearl's Dream'

Despite being hotly-tipped to win the Mercury Prize, Bat For Lashes' 2006 debut Fur and Gold lost out to nu-ravers Klaxons and the record itself failed to dent the top 40. This year's follow-up Two Suns has, commercially at least, outshone its predecessor and was propelled into the top five on the back of the stunning single 'Daniel', which rightly thrust Natasha Khan into the mainstream.

'Pearl's Dream' doesn't reach the same dizzy heights, but it's still a fine piece of sweeping 80s/00s pop. The vocal and melodic similarities to Hounds Of Love-era Kate Bush are unavoidable, but Khan succeeds in stamping her own multiple-personalities onto the track. The lyrics are a little oblique in places ("Into a darkness where the stars do drown, where the starry me needs to be free"), and the tune at times struggles under the weight of its own ambition, but it's always better to aim your arrows at the sun rather than settling for the horizon.


> Click here to read our review of Two Suns