Natasha Khan, known professionally as Bat for Lashes, is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She was born to an English mother, Josie, and Pakistani Pashtun father, professional squash player Rehmat Khan. After her father left the family when Khan was 11, she taught herself to play the piano, which became “a channel to express things, to get them out”. Khan settled in Brighton in 2000 to study music and visual arts at the University of Brighton, where she produced sound installations, animations, and performances. After finishing her degree, Khan completed an NVQ in play work and childcare, and worked as a nursery school teacher, dedicating her spare time to developing songs, recording demos, and gigging in Brighton. She has said the name Bat for Lashes “doesn’t really mean anything… It conjured up Halloween-y images, and it sounded metal and feminine.
Khan’s debut single, “The Wizard”, was released digitally through Drowned in Silence records and on 7″ vinyl through Khan’s own imprint, She Bear Records. In 2006, she signed to Echo, a record label that acted as an incubator for artists before “upstreaming” them to major labels. Echo released her debut album, Fur and Gold in September 2006. In 2007, Bat for Lashes and Echo signed an international licensing deal with Parlophone, which re-released Fur and Gold the same year. Fur and Gold reached number forty-eight on the UK Album Chart and has since been certified gold by the BPI for sales exceeding 100,000 copies.
Khan’s second album, Two Suns, was released in April 2009 and produced by Khan and David Kosten. In preparation for the album, Khan journeyed to Joshua Tree Desert in California to gain inspiration, before returning to New York and London to write and record the finished material for release. Two Suns debuted at number five on the UK Album Chart, and has been certified gold by the BPI for sales of 100,000 copies. The first single from the album, “Daniel”, became Khan’s first hit, peaking at number thirty-six on the UK Singles Chart; it later won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song.
The following singles were “Pearl’s Dream” and a double A-side of “Sleep Alone” and “Moon and Moon”, the latter of which was featured in a high-profile advertising campaign for children’s charity Barnardo’s in late 2009.
The third Bat for Lashes album, The Haunted Man, was released in October 2012 in the UK. The lead single, “Laura”, was released in July; the second single, “All Your Gold”, came out in September. The Haunted Man debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart, Khan’s second consecutive top-ten album, and has since been certified Silver by the BPI for selling 60,000 copies. Subsequent singles were “A Wall” and “Lilies”. Khan attended the 2013 Brit Awards, having been nominated in the Best British Female category, and was also nominated at the Ivor Novello Awards in the category of Best Song Musically and Lyrically (for “Laura”).
