POP MUSIC REVIEW

"Fur and Gold" (Caroline)

Richard Cromelin; Greg Burk

THE ancient woods of Albion, animated in decades past by such mystic yarn-spinners as Led Zeppelin, Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Incredible String Band, are teeming once again with wizards and golden light and mysterious horses, courtesy of Natasha Khan, a 28-year-old Englishwoman of Pakistani descent whose debut album (due for release in the U.S. on Tuesday) introduces a distinctive heir to the tradition of Kate Bush, Björk, PJ Harvey and other visionary conduits to that world of primal forces.

Under the name Bat for Lashes, Khan (who performs at Spaceland on Tuesday) has quickly made a mark at home, where "Fur and Gold" has joined albums by the Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, the Klaxons and others as a nominee for the Mercury Music Prize.

ADVERTISEMENT

The collection offers a fresh take on England's druid-rock legacy, blending electronics with the elemental skin and seeds of drums and shakers in a sound that's both atmospheric and richly textured.

And while Khan can smite a staff or don armor and mount a steed in a Joan of Arc-inspired scenario, she doesn't stay locked in that world. "What's a Girl to Do?" opens with a "Be My Baby" drum punch and unfolds like a piece of eerie, down-tempo Spector. "Sad Eyes," an intimate, emotional piano ballad, is another turn in a more conventional pop genre, and she gives Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" an intensely haunted reading.

Whichever world she traverses, Khan radiates authority and confidence.

All that's left is to shed the skin of those influences and show what she's really made of.

— Richard Cromelin