It’s an absolute honour to welcome Natasha Khan – aka Bat For Lashes – to the MKX family, and to announce her sixth studio album, The Dream Of Delphi, which is out May 31st. Named after her daughter Delphi, born in California in the locked-down summer of 2020, The Dream of Delphi finds Khan reflecting on early motherhood in her most personal album to date.
Today also sees the announcement of her first run of headline UK shows in five years including a landmark date at The Barbican on June 24th. Tickets go on sale March 1st with artist presale from 28th February.
The new single is accompanied by a stunning video shot earlier this winter in the English countryside, produced in collaboration with creative director and choreographer Alexandra Green and directed by Freddie Leyden. The official video will form the first chapter of a yet-to-be-announced longform album film, with more information to be revealed soon.
Part pagan invocation, part celestial synth epic, new single and album opener The Dream of Delphi marks a stunning return and true-to-form reinvention from Khan. Feeling ancient and astral but at the same time novel and exciting. The album invites the listener through a journey of devotional love songs about the spirituality, ancestry and folklore; but also the mundane, selfless and tender aspects of child rearing that all mothers can attest to.
Speaking on the track, Natasha adds: “This is the manifesto of the album. 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. 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. 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.”
The Dream of Delphi marks a stark new chapter in the already varied, and critically acclaimed story of Bat For Lashes, and we are delighted to join her on the journey.