Timothy van Sas
Timothy van Sas

Tuesday 14 August 2012

You say that they’ve all left you all behind

Bat For Lashes - Laura

During a scene of his directorial debut film, Garden State, Zach Braff’s lead character, Largeman, describes how the meaning of “home” changes. Theorising that once you leave and enough time passes “home” becomes a fictionally positive memory of a place and people that no longer exist. That longing for it to be “the way it was” isn’t healthy and you have mould a new idea of home wherever you are. It’s an effecting scene, simple but disquietingly honest which cuts to the heart of why nostalgia can be a cause of a great damage to the present.

Bat For Lashes (AKA Natalie Khan) tackles nostalgia in a similar fashion for her latest single, Laura. Instead of Braff’s existential approach, Khan embodies her own youthful ideas of nostalgia using a protagonist of whom she sings about with a sorrowful admiration. Fondly remembering the effervescence and devil may care attitude of the hollow plaudits that she and her friends used to through around, “You’re more than a superstar.” Then admitting to a combination of Clockwork Orange esq nihilism “And in this old horror show,” and self loathing “Let’s sing along to that lonely song." Bundling this parable in a composition as simplistic as Braff’s scene, which after multiple listens become no less disquieting and even more haunting.

Laura is taken from Bat For Lashes forthcoming new Album, The Haunted Man which is out on October 15th

No comments:

Post a Comment