Bat For Lashes at Shepherd's Bush Empire
School Of Seven Bells
Shepherd's Bush Empire, 17 April 2009
I've always loved my female singer-songwriters, especially those who are skilled musicians and not just great voices, and oddly enough three of the best around today happened to play London within days of each other. The first in my awesome lady trilogy (which sounds like the English title of a series of Korean action flicks) was the ethereal and beautiful (and as it happens) Stevie Nicks-inspired Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes, at the first of two sold-out nights at the Empire in Shepherd's Bush.
Anticipation was high thanks to her brilliant newly released second album Two Suns but before we could finally hear these new songs live there was, of course, the support act. Probably the most striking thing about School Of Seven Bells, a dreamy, droney shoegaze-type band from New York (think My Bloody Valentine meets Mazzy Star, only not as impressive as that sounds), is that it is led by two insanely beautiful twin sisters. Dark-haired and olive-skinned with huge brown eyes, Alejandra and Claudia Deheza look more like models and are absolutely tiny with childlike bodies and doll-like lollipop heads. The music itself isn't quite as fascinating as their good looks but it's a pleasant enought drone, more fuzzed-up and exciting than the album, but nothing too exciting.
Natasha finally arrives on stage wearing what looks like a glamorous, fairy clown costume - it's part Bowie, part Peter Gabriel and part Kate Bush, a floaty white satin jump suit paired with ruffly collar and black boots, which is oddly cute - and invites us into her whimsical fantasy world, which turns out to be a pretty magical place to be indeed.
She begins, appropriately enough, with the first two tracks from Two Suns, Glass and Sleep Alone, two gloriously upbeat numbers, which see her wandering the unusually-decorated stage (religious statues, pretty beaded lamps and fibre-optic angels) microphone in hand, armed with various percussion instruments, before settling down behind her piano/harpsichord (which was amusingly draped with a velvet painting of wolves howling in the night - something I can imagine being sold down Woolwich market), to revisit one of Fur And Gold's finest moments, Horse & I.
It was here, seated and playing an instrument, she seemed most at home and managed the difficult task of engaging the somewhat rowdy audience with some of her most delicate and haunting songs including a stripped down version of single Daniel, one of the new album's great moments Travelling Woman, Siren Song and The Wizard. One of the largest cheers however comes for one of her poppier moments, Sarah, and even on songs like this, where she abandons the safety of her piano, her voice is stunning and strong, beautifully clear yet filled with a fragile emotion. It's pretty special to witness. Peace Of Mind, Tahiti and the gorgeous What's A Girl To Do follow ending with a ghostly and chilling Pearl's Dream.
But, despite a fantastic backing band that includes an amazingly cool girl drummer and the equally talented Charlotte Hatherley on guitar and bass (with newly red hair and wearing a strange hat, I only recognised her halfway through the show!), the night's most jaw-droppingly good moment came when Natasha returned to the stage alone and played a solitary, achingly beautiful version of Prescilla on auto harp. She then stayed with the new album for the remainder of the encore: Good Love, Moon & Moon, Two Planets, and unusually for the second encore resurrects lead single Daniel, a song of unrequited teenage love to the heroic, Ralph Macchio-played character from The Karate Kid, for a full band version, conjuring up its full electro-pop glory. When Natasha finally dances from the stage we are left feeling like it was all a velvet-painted, wolves howling at the moon, kind of dream. Magical.
Shepherd's Bush Empire, 17 April 2009
I've always loved my female singer-songwriters, especially those who are skilled musicians and not just great voices, and oddly enough three of the best around today happened to play London within days of each other. The first in my awesome lady trilogy (which sounds like the English title of a series of Korean action flicks) was the ethereal and beautiful (and as it happens) Stevie Nicks-inspired Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes, at the first of two sold-out nights at the Empire in Shepherd's Bush.
Anticipation was high thanks to her brilliant newly released second album Two Suns but before we could finally hear these new songs live there was, of course, the support act. Probably the most striking thing about School Of Seven Bells, a dreamy, droney shoegaze-type band from New York (think My Bloody Valentine meets Mazzy Star, only not as impressive as that sounds), is that it is led by two insanely beautiful twin sisters. Dark-haired and olive-skinned with huge brown eyes, Alejandra and Claudia Deheza look more like models and are absolutely tiny with childlike bodies and doll-like lollipop heads. The music itself isn't quite as fascinating as their good looks but it's a pleasant enought drone, more fuzzed-up and exciting than the album, but nothing too exciting.
Natasha finally arrives on stage wearing what looks like a glamorous, fairy clown costume - it's part Bowie, part Peter Gabriel and part Kate Bush, a floaty white satin jump suit paired with ruffly collar and black boots, which is oddly cute - and invites us into her whimsical fantasy world, which turns out to be a pretty magical place to be indeed.
She begins, appropriately enough, with the first two tracks from Two Suns, Glass and Sleep Alone, two gloriously upbeat numbers, which see her wandering the unusually-decorated stage (religious statues, pretty beaded lamps and fibre-optic angels) microphone in hand, armed with various percussion instruments, before settling down behind her piano/harpsichord (which was amusingly draped with a velvet painting of wolves howling in the night - something I can imagine being sold down Woolwich market), to revisit one of Fur And Gold's finest moments, Horse & I.
It was here, seated and playing an instrument, she seemed most at home and managed the difficult task of engaging the somewhat rowdy audience with some of her most delicate and haunting songs including a stripped down version of single Daniel, one of the new album's great moments Travelling Woman, Siren Song and The Wizard. One of the largest cheers however comes for one of her poppier moments, Sarah, and even on songs like this, where she abandons the safety of her piano, her voice is stunning and strong, beautifully clear yet filled with a fragile emotion. It's pretty special to witness. Peace Of Mind, Tahiti and the gorgeous What's A Girl To Do follow ending with a ghostly and chilling Pearl's Dream.
But, despite a fantastic backing band that includes an amazingly cool girl drummer and the equally talented Charlotte Hatherley on guitar and bass (with newly red hair and wearing a strange hat, I only recognised her halfway through the show!), the night's most jaw-droppingly good moment came when Natasha returned to the stage alone and played a solitary, achingly beautiful version of Prescilla on auto harp. She then stayed with the new album for the remainder of the encore: Good Love, Moon & Moon, Two Planets, and unusually for the second encore resurrects lead single Daniel, a song of unrequited teenage love to the heroic, Ralph Macchio-played character from The Karate Kid, for a full band version, conjuring up its full electro-pop glory. When Natasha finally dances from the stage we are left feeling like it was all a velvet-painted, wolves howling at the moon, kind of dream. Magical.
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