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Bat for Lashes, Shepherds Bush Empire, London. 17th April 2009.
Bat For Lashes, aka Pakistan-born singer-songwriter Natasha Khan, cut an eccentric figure as her UK tour hit London. Wearing a diaphanous white dress complete with a giant ruff, during the song 'The Wizard' she tinkled a string of tiny silver bells. Pic: James Quinton
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Bat for Lashes, Shepherds Bush Empire, London. 17th April 2009.
The pictures you're looking at were taken at the first of two Bat For Lashes gigs at the Shepherds Bush Empire. The second was two days later, on Sunday 19 April. Support on both dates came from shoegaze revivalists School Of Seven Bells. Pic: James Quinton
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Bat for Lashes, Shepherds Bush Empire, London. 17th April 2009.
Bat For Lashes' current single 'Daniel' is a broadly autobiographical tale of first love. Natasha Khan's crush was on Daniel Laruso, star of the film 'The Karate Kid'. She says of the song: It’s definitely a song that has some nostalgia in it and [it’s about] wanting to go back to the innocence of teenage love." Pic: James Quinton
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Bat for Lashes, Shepherds Bush Empire, London. 17th April 2009.
While writing current album 'Two Suns', Natasha Khan was based in the hip Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, New York. For that reason, she says the album reveals the influence of bands such as TV On The Radio, MGMT and Gang Gang Dance. Pic: James Quinton
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Bat for Lashes, Shepherds Bush Empire, London. 17th April 2009.
Natasha Khan makes playful reference to her teenage crush on 'Karate Kid' star Daniel Laruso on the sleeve of the single 'Daniel': the tattoo you can see on her back in that photo is a picture of him. Pic: James Quinton
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Bat for Lashes, Shepherds Bush Empire, London. 17th April 2009.
Bat For Lashes onstage at Shepherds Bush Empire, West London, Friday April 17. Her current album 'Two Suns' features a duet with Scott Walker on the track 'The Big Sleep', although she never actually met him - they communicated only by email. Pic: James Quinton
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School of 7 Bells, Shepherds Bush Empire, London. 17th April 2009.
Bat For Lashes is currently touring in support of second album 'Two Suns', which has picked up glowing reviews. NME's Tim Chester described the album as "epic in scope and ambition", but also warned that it "requires a similarly epic patience to unravel its charms". Pictured here is support act School Of Seven Bells. Pic: James Quinton
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School of 7 Bells, Shepherds Bush Empire, London. 17th April 2009.
School Of Seven Bells open for Bat For Lashes at the Shepherds Bush Empire, west London, Friday 17 April. Later, the singer-songwriter, whose second album 'Two Suns' recently charted at Number 5, played two versions of current single 'Daniel', one of them sparse and understated, the other grandiose and full-throated. Pic: James Quinton
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School of 7 Bells, Shepherds Bush Empire, London. 17th April 2009.
Bat For Lashes has picked up a reputation for performing imaginative cover versions, the most recent being Kings Of Leon's 'Use Somebody'. Check YouTube for radical reinventions of The Cure's 'A Forest' and Bruce Springsteen's 'I'm On Fire'. Pic: James Quinton