Bat For Lashes - Daniel
The intense head-rush of first love, with a mystical, wild remembrance and the barest note of urgency.
There was a random rumour doing the rounds not long ago that 'Daniel' was Natasha Khan's ode to Ralph Macchio's character in The Karate Kid. Sadly, this isn't true (although Khan admits she had a childhood crush on him), but the fact that it was debated at all is a testament to the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist's penchant for arbitrary and often fantastical subject matter, as heard on her critically-lauded debut 'Fur And Gold'.
In that respect, 'Daniel' isn't a departure from the style that has endeared her to fans and critics alike, though Khan's vocal presence is even more spectral and otherworldy than before. She imbues a common enough occurrence, the intense head-rush of first love, with a mystical, wild remembrance and the barest note of urgency, conjuring up a dreamy, misted-over landscape of isolation in the mind's eye. The comparisons to Kate Bush and Fleetwood Mac have been done to death, but the 80s influence can't be overlooked, not only heard in the ever-present synths and ambient beats, but in the Celtic flavour of the song. Khan could easily be a young Maire Brennan, singing on an early Clannad track, and certainly the Pagan reverence for natural phenomena finds its outlet with the mention of skies, fires, rain and storms. A beautiful, heart-rending exercise in restraint and subtlety.
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