Photo: Press/Neil Krug
"I listen to everything," smiles Nataha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes - slicing a hand through the air as if to cut through and destroy the notion of a 'guilty pleasure'. "I don't have anything I don't like or think is embarrassing."
With an all-encompassing and bewitching sound, taking in everything from electro to classical, anchored by pop but lifted by more ethereal and experimental idiosyncrasies, an aching romance and a love of the melodramatic, it stands to reason that Khan has a pretty eclectic taste. To get under the skin of what she's been listening to as she gears up to release her gorgeous fourth album, The Bride, we sat down with Bat For Lashes to find out what's been on her stereo recently. Check out a playlist of her choices below.
"I really like 80s cheesy soul jams and Chaka Khan makes me really happy. I saw Michael Jackson doing the Bad tour when I was nine-years-old - that was my first show, so I've always leaned towards pop.
"I worked with MNEK and we made some really cool dance tunes that I'll probably release soon. I suppose the thing is that I'll never say no to any genre or any way of doing music because it's an expression of the many different aspects of me, they're all relevant.
"I've been listening to Joanna Newsom's new stuff recently, I really like that. I've just got over my obsession with Sufjan Stevens' Carrie and Lowell record, that went on for a long time. I've just bought a John Barry vinyl soundtrack - I'm really into old soundtracks. I love finding old 1940s electronica soundtracks, and there's a whole BBC Radiophonic Workshop soundtrack to this really, almost VHS snuffbox movie. Lots of stuff with a cool Delia Derbyshire vibe.
"ANOHNI too - Antony & The Johnsons' new stuff is really interesting. Christine & The Queens too - she's so good. I saw her in LA with these five synchronised dancers. It was on the day that Prince died so I was quite sad that day, and it just Purple Rain-ed me out. She's such a cool girl and everything was so perfect - it really pleased me.
"Prince meant everything - Prince, Madonna and Michael Jackson are just the trilogy of greatness. They were all born in the same year as my mum, so she totally passed them down onto me and my siblings. They were just a huge part of growing up. Every party I've been to, I've ended up dancing to Prince drunkenly at some point.
"My favourite Prince party song is probably 'When Doves Cry'. It's probably a cliched answer, but it just gets everyone on the dancefloor. I also love 'Little Red Corvette' for those lyrics in the first line - 'I guess I should've known by the way you parked your car sideways that it wouldn't last'. It's just such a great opening line. Then of course 'Sign Of The Times', 'I Wud Die 4 U' - all of them.
"It was like the soundtrack to my youth really - the same as David Bowie. It's odd that we've lost so many all-round incredible musicians like Bowie, Prince and Lou Reed. It just freaks me out. The time is different now, and we'll never see the likes of them again, so there's a greater sadness about the loss of that period."
Bat For Lashes plays London's Union Chapel tonight, before releasing The Bride on 1 July. Check back soon for more of our extensive interview with Natasha Khan.
