Bat For Lashes – The Dream of Delphi
Natasha Khan's sixth album is her most intimate and focused, exploring her feelings and state of mind following the birth of her daughter
The Dream of Delphi conjures a beautifully hushed atmosphere, ripe with poignant spaces and considered, philosophical musings on motherhood and the passage of time. Christmas Day contains the bittersweet bon mot, 'You're a gift / That I'll come to give away, in time'. The Midwives Have Left features impressionistic, wordless coos (repeated on Her First Morning and Delphi Dancing) and Breaking Up (a reference to the dissolution of Khan and Delphi's father's relationship) is a two minute flute and sax meditation. Even without lyrics, the mood remains unmistakably wistful, but never resentful, emphasising a feeling common to many new parents: events may swirl around me, but my baby gives me the strength to go on.
Despite the occasionally sparse nature of the album, there is great variety in the arrangements. Flutes abound (Christmas Day, Breaking Up), Mary Lattimore contributes evocative harp on the title track and there are numerous instances of gorgeous piano runs (At Your Feet's extended intro the best example). There's also a pronounced influence of early synthesiser pioneers; Khan channels the BBC Radiophonic Workshop on Waking Up, Delphi Dancing has the twinkling quality of a music box and the title track almost veers into Lycanthropy-era Patrick Wolf folktronica. A glaring outlier is Home – a remixed cover featuring double-tracked pitch-shifted vocals and a steady beat. It's a lovely pop cut, but anyone hearing this single ahead of the full album might be surprised by the whole.
Despite being the biggest shift in her sound so far, Khan's silken touch is such that Delphi feels like a congruous and joyful addition to her oeuvre, proof of her claim that motherhood helped her tap into a previously unknown well of creativity.
Listen to: At Your Feet, The Dream of Delphi