Bat For Lashes at the Barbican

Bat For Lashes

Mui Zyu

Barbican, 24 June 2024

Natasha Khan thanks us tonight for supporting her for almost 20 years. Can it really be that long? But yes it seems her debut album Fur And Gold incredibly came out 18 years ago. I distinctly remember someone in my office at the time recommending it to me. Unfortunately I didn't go and see her live that year but made up for my mistake by seeing Bat For Lashes live for every album since 2009's Two Suns, even going to see her brief side project Sexwitch in 2015. Now she has a new album out called The Dream Of Delphi, her first in five years inspired by the birth of her daughter, so I loyally traveled up to the Barbican Centre to see her latest show, and Ms Khan is as magical and mystical as ever.

First though came the support act, Mui Zyo which is the recording name of Chinese/British singer-songwriter Eva Liu, and I must say she was the perfect fit for a Bat For Lashes opener. The tiny Liu, wearing a big white shirt and sporting an electric guitar, admitted that supporting Bat For Lashes on this tour had come as a surprise, so much so that she had actually purchased tickets for this very show before she got the call!

With a keyboard player and a violinist accompanying her, she played dreamy electro pop with a lush, atmospheric sound that was almost ethereal at times, grungy at other times. I couldn't make out the lyrics but apparently she sings about her Chinese heritage and about fantasy worlds, which definitely sounds interesting. She's also without doubt part of that magical realm that Bat For Lashes exists in, so her opening set certainly got us in the mood for more.

One nice thing about the Barbican is that the shows always start on time (and you have a nice comfy seat), it also feels a suitably sophisticated setting for Khan's art pop, quite a way from the more grungy setting of the Empire where I first saw her live. She emerges, dramatically dressed in a white pleather dress, looking like a post-modern fairy tale princess. Backing her tonight is a pretty stripped back band: Charlotte Hatherley on guitar and bass (she has also been part of Khan's band previous times I've seen her and is a great solo artist in her own right, although she hasn't released anything for ages it seems) and Laura Groves on keyboard, who is turns out I've also seen live before when she was known as Blue Roses and supported St. Vincent way back in 2009. Like Mui Zyu, there's no drummer though, which is a shame, but it still sounded great.

As I expected, she started the show with two dreamy songs from the new album, At Your Feet (which ended with Khan, Groves and Hatherley doing synchronized moves, their shadows looming big behind them on the striking backdrop) and the title track. I must admit her latest record, which is an ode to motherhood and her daughter, is maybe my least favourite of her releases and I had been expecting this concert to be a showcase for it, so I was a little relieved when she told us she was going to play songs from all her six albums including "some bangers" (as she called them) from Lost Girls, which she never got to properly tour due to Covid (although I did see her perform solo after that record was released and play quite a few songs from it at Earth in 2019).

She delivers on this promise right away with two tracks from Lost Girls, The Hunger and Mountains, and without doubt, they do sound great with a band behind her. During The Hunger she did little Kate Bush-esque dance moves and ended with her banging a drum. It's a great and overlooked 80s-inspired record and it was nice to hear some of it live. In fact she even ended the show with the single, Kids In The Dark and it sounded fantastic.

She then went to the middle of the stage to pull out some bells that she said she had discovered in storage. These were the original ones used while touring Fur And Gold, and she had other percussion instruments from that era too. It was really spine-tingling to hear songs like The Wizard, Sarah and Tahiti, these were, after all, the songs that initially drew me into Bat For Lashes' magical world. Also, the last time I saw her live I don't think she played any of that record at all, so it was really nice to hear some songs from it this time.

She also pulled out some more unusual tracks, the first being the track she recorded with Beck for the Twilight film, Let's Get Lost, and she talked about how they sent music back and forth to each other while writing it. "This is my version of it," she told us, playing the song on the keyboard and turning it into a much more plaintive ballad. It was lovely.

Later, for the encore, she played Wilderness, a bonus track on Two Suns, which once again saw her standing at the front of the stage and banging a drum, as the song slowly and hauntingly built. 

Maybe her most famous song, Daniel, her tribute to the lead character in The Karate Kid, was also reinvented, sang while sitting on a stool and letting the vocals ring throughout The Barbican Hall. There's no doubt about it, Khan's voice is so pure and beautiful, it was an utter pleasure to hear this classic song slowed down, to hear the emotion and pain in every word. I was at the side of the stage where she performed this track, so I got to see her close-up as she sang it with such passion, becoming completely lost in the song. It was utterly beautiful.

She returned behind the keyboard to sing an enchanting version of the Two Suns' track Moon And Moon and the super sweet Letter To My Daughter, which she explained was inspired by the book of the same name by Maya Angelou, which was dedicated to the daughter she never had. Khan took the title and wrote something for her recently born daughter Delphi, so that she had something to remember her by in the future when she's gone. It was a lovely sentiment and very moving, the love she has for her daughter echoing through every word sang. 

She also talked about how everyone has meaning and purpose in their life but that just made me sad, because I actually don't believe it to be true. It's a nice thought but maybe easier to believe when you are sitting in front of a huge theatre full of adoring fans hanging off your every word. Khan always comes across as so lovely though, so I know the intention is pure.

After this, she read a poem she had written for her daughter called If You Be The Universe, during which the crowd was spellbound and utterly silent. It was incredibly beautiful and Khan sounded so full of love and joy as she read it.  She also explained how she came to cover Home by Bauuer. I hadn't even realised this was a cover, but apparently she used to play it in the car when she lived in Los Angeles and her little baby daughter loved it, which convinced her to record her own version. She then precedes to sing a really joyful version of it tonight and I'm sure she is probably thinking of Delphi all the time because there is such a look of love and happiness on her face throughout.

Ending with Lilies (where by the end she had the crowd swaying along with, their hands in the air) and the aforementioned Kids In The Dark, she soon returned for a three song encore, beginning with a hauntingly beautiful stripped down version of All My Gold, played alone on the keyboard, which I felt was even better than the recorded version. Amusingly she started singing the wrong line at the start and had to ask the audience to remind her what the real first line was. "You didn't know you were coming to a comedy night" she quipped. After the previously mentioned Wilderness, leaving maybe the best for last, an absolutely spell-binding and captivating Laura. There is just something about this song that grabs my heart and it is soaring and wonderful tonight, showcasing Khan's crystal-clear voice. It is the perfect way to end the show.

Khan's songs are full of mystical and magical things (she even had a tarot deck she had designed for sale at the show), she creates little worlds I always want to visit, but there's also so much humanity and compassion in them too that is rooted in the real world, as evidenced by her pure love for her daughter on her latest songs. It's always a pleasure to be her presence and I hope I get to do it again soon.