LTR (Long Term Review): Bat For Lashes’ Two Suns

I first Just Picked Up Bat For Lashes’ Two Suns here and then I reviewed “Daniel” here and “Pearl’s Dream” here.  Now, I’m reviewing the whole set.

 LTR (Long Term Review)
Full Release Review

♪	all over the place
♫	carries a tune
♫♪	part of the chorus
♫♫	featured soloist
♫♫♪	conducting the choir

 

Bat For Lashes Two Suns
Released:  April 6, 2009

“Indie pop” sounds  like an oxymoron, but Bat For Lashes weaves a magical musical tapestry that defies any other description.  Not only is Two Suns indie pop, it’s a concept album that works in layers more than as a literal translation of  a linear story from track to track.  Though I’m calling it pop, it’s pregnant with  lush instrumentation that brings the songs to life.  

Exploring dualities in fable-song form, she presents an alter ego in the form of Pearl, who plays foil to her Bat For Lashes persona.  Two Suns takes you to a world of princesses and dragons and castles and large bodies of water between warring kingdoms.  You feel like one of Robin Hood’s Merry Men stopping in the forest to take in the Folk Fairie’s rave.

“Daniel”  hauntingly calls out to a soulmate-lover-savior and harkens back to the ’80s.  It’s a synth ice-cream-dream with a juxtaposition of beats in foreground and background that commingle flawlessly.  “Pearl’s Dream” is a mesmerizing ode with a funky beat.  It’s simple yet clever sing-song double-meaning lyrics make the song that much richer.  With synth and drum programming to die for, I picture gypsies with layers of kerchiefs flowing in the wind as they belly dance the night away next to tents on a beach lit by a bounty of bonfires.  And, just wait for that beat breakdown near the end.

Drums run through the tracks so much so that the songs could be interpreted by a drum circle from beginning to end.  New wave flourishes add a unique flavor.  Allusions to renaissance fairs and medieval reenactments aside,  Two Suns, is chic fairytale fare and not geek at all.  A masterful pop-parable that delivers. ♫♫

 Standout Track:  “Pearl’s Dream”
Check Out:  “Glass,” “Daniel,” and “Siren Song”

 

Single and Listening

Single and Listening

Single Reviews by Release Date 

♪	♫	♫♪	♫♫	♫♫♪
all over the place	carries a tune	part of the chorus	featured soloist	conducting the choir

3 quickies.

Rob Thomas “Her Diamonds” Released:  April 27, 2009
From Forthcoming Release:  cradlesong ♫♪^1/2
I like it.  Can see it becoming a bit of a mini-anthem.  Charming with a folk quality and a bit of fireside spiritual.  A slow-burning grower kind-of-song.

Kristinia DeBarge “Goodbye” Released:  April 28, 2009
From Forthcoming Release:  TBD ♫♪
Even the interpolation of the 1969 Steam classic “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” into the chorus doesn’t save it.  It’s  satisfactory overall, but from a DeBarge, I’d expect more.

Bat For Lashes “Pearl’s Dream” Released:  May 28, 2009
From Latest Release:  Two Suns ♫♫
I already mentioned this was a favorite in our Just Picked Up feature here.  The choruses are sweet and the double-meanings fun.  And, I swear that under beat is the Pussycat Doll’s “Don’t Cha.”  Even, if it isn’t, it reminds me of it and makes me like it even more.  Mash-up anyone?

 

Just Picked Up: Bat For Lashes — Two Suns

I picked up Bat For Lashes’ Two Suns (her second album) after work this evening at Waterloo Records downtown before having dinner and drinks at Z’Tejas on 6th Street.

I’d been wanting to listen to something a little different than my usual pop fare.  Something a little more conceptual and epic in scope. 

I discovered Bat For Lashes when I included Two Suns on a  Tuesday Tease here.  I went on to review her first Two Suns single, “Daniel,” for one of my Single and Listening Editions here.  Though looking back now, I know I’ve heard the name before.  I just can’t place when and in what context. 

I’m listening to it now and so far I love Track 4, “Daniel,” and Track 8, “Pearl’s Dream.”  And I love, love, love the front and back cover images.  She created a second character, Pearl, who’s on the back of the CD, and I guess she’s herself on the front.  Basically, duality is the theme that runs through the CD (Ahem, Two Suns, hello).

You can pick up your copy at amazon or iTunes.

 

Tuesday Tease

April 7, 2009

A popolio selection of today’s New Releases. 

Jason Aldean	Wide Open
Bat For Lashes	Two Suns
Doves	Kingdom of Rust
The Felice Brothers	Yonder Is The Clock
Hurt	Goodbye to the Machine
Jadakiss	The Last Kiss
Jesse McCartney	Departure:  Recharged
Bob Mould	Life and Times
Rascal Flatts	Unstoppable
Vienna Teng	Inland Territory
The Tragically Hip	We Are the Same
Junior Vasquez	Generation Next
The Veils	Sun Gangs
Cassandra Wilson	Closer To You:  The Pop Side
Neil Young	Fork In The Road (CD/DVD)

 

Single and Listening

Single and Listening

Here’s the second editionof this for March 2009 as promised yesterday.  I’m going to keep it short and sweet.  I must be feeling generous tonight.  No, it’s all just that good tonight.

Single Reviews by Release Date

♪	♫	♫♪	♫♫	♫♫♪
all over the place	carries a tune	part of the chorus	featured soloist	conducting the choir

Jamie Foxx “Blame It” Released: January 26, 2009 From Latest Release:  Intuition ♫♫
Catchy as hell.  Know it’s about alcohol, but it’s a party-starter.  Will pack, crowd, and keep the dance floor going.

Pussycat Dolls  and A.R. Rahman “Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)”
Released:  February 23, 2009
From Forthcoming Release:   Doll Domination 2.0 Version ♫♫
A re-interpretation of the Oscar-winning song from Slumdog Millionaire.  The pop remix does it justice and brings it to an audience that may have slept on it.

Bat For Lashes “Daniel” Released:  March 1, 2009
From Forthcoming Release:  Two Suns  ♫♫
Never heard of Bat For Lashes before, but I like this.   A little different.  Sounds 80s to me.  Hypnotic and soothing.