Bat For Lashes has announced her sixth studio album ‘The Dream Of Delphi’ and shared its title track, as well as details of a UK tour – listen and find all the details below.
The London singer-songwriter and producer – real name Natasha Khan – is due to release the 10-song record on May 31, marking her first project since signing with acclaimed label Mercury KX. Pre-order/pre-save here.
Arriving today (February 22), the ethereal single ‘The Dream Of Delphi’ – which will open the upcoming LP of the same name – tackles the artist’s experience of motherhood. It is described as being “part pagan invocation, part celestial synth epic”.
Khan explained in a press release that the track was “the manifesto of the album”, adding: “It’s like a spell being cast. It’s the conjuring, the manifestation, the drawing-down of Delphi from the ether. This is me calling on her soul.”
She continued: “It’s about going up into the stars and down into the underworld simultaneously, how celestials and deep guttural sounds can come together, how that reflects the journey I went on. It’s about what happens when you’re stretched physically, mentally, even vaginally!
“I think it’s just humbled me, too, becoming a mother,” she added. “It’s made me feel more vulnerable than I’ve ever felt before. But I feel more human, more embodied. I can’t escape life by making beautiful things as much as I did. But there’s sort of a beauty to my mortality now.”
She concluded: “Motherhood I thought would take me away from my art, but it opened up this massive world.”
The song is accompanied by a fittingly atmospheric official video, which was filmed in the English countryside earlier this winter. It was produced in collaboration with creative director and choreographer Alexandra Green, and directed by Freddie Leyden.
Per a press release, the visuals serve as the first chapter of a yet-to-be-announced long-form album film, with more information to be revealed soon. Watch above.
As for the record on the whole, ‘The Dream Of Delphi’ was self-produced by Khan and was created after she gave birth to her daughter during the COVID lockdown in the summer of 2020.
Officially announcing my new album ‘The Dream of Delphi’, coming out May 31st 2024 🌀✨https://t.co/69EwBDYTqF pic.twitter.com/xQqAuLQNtS
— Bat for Lashes (@BatForLashes) February 22, 2024
A description reads: “Moments of quiet domesticity sit amongst flashes of existential wonder in these ten spiralling compositions. Lyrics about the break-up of Natasha’s relationship with Delphi’s father interweave with the place of the mother in the never-ending cycle of life, death and rebirth.
“Ideas and sounds both ancient and modern also mesh mesmerisingly together, pianos, bass flutes and harps blending with organs, mellotrons and the whirling sound patterns of synthesisers, inspired by [Khan’s] love of female and trans artists like Delia Derbyshire, Constance Demby and Beverly Glenn Copeland, and her longstanding interests in ambient and orchestral film soundtracks.”
The tracklist for ‘The Dream Of Delphi’ is:
1. ‘The Dream Of Delphi’
2. ‘Christmas Day’
3. ‘Letter To My Daughter’
4. ‘At Your Feet’
5. ‘The Midwives Have Left’
6. ‘Home’
7. ‘Breaking Up’
8. ‘Delphi Dancing’
9. ‘Her First Morning’
10. ‘Waking Up’
11. ‘The Dream of Delphi (Bonus Extended Strings Version)’
Additionally, Bat For Lashes has confirmed a run of UK shows for this summer. The tour will mark her first headline dates on these shores in five years, and includes a performance at the Barbican in London.
Tickets go on sale at 10am GMT next Friday (March 1) – you’ll be able to buy yours here. Alternatively, fans can sign up to access an artist pre-sale next Wednesday (February 28) – you can do so here.
Bat For Lashes’ 2024 UK tour dates are:
JUNE
12 – O2 Academy 2, Oxford
18 – Town Hall, Birmingham
19 – Beacon, Bristol
24 – Barbican, London
25 – De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill On Sea
27 – Aviva Studios, Manchester
Bat For Lashes last released an album in the form of 2019’s ‘Lost Girls’.
In a four-star review, NME called the project her “most consistent work to date”, adding that Khan was “still dramatic, seductive and theatrical, but fully cut loose. This is Khan’s own heroic moment.”