Record of the Week is back! If you've read any (or even all) of these, thank you. I'm mostly out here doing it for myself as something creative to do, but it would be pretty cool if anyone else connects with it. So here we are. This week, the Randomizer serves up something a little more recent, it's Bat for Lashes' 2024 release, The Dream of Delphi. This translucent marble brown copy is the one on my turntable today. I pretty much ordered this straight away when it was announced. I've been a fan of hers since Fur & Gold, her first album from 2006. I found her through the obvious Kate Bush comparisons and, as we all know, I'm a big fan of Kate Bush. So, yeah, Bats is a disciple of Kate. Nothing wrong with that. Bats still follows her own North Star, I think. She is a little more witchy or pagan priestess, I'd say. Definitely good witch. She'd cast a protection spell on you if you were going through some shit.
In any case, she's very good at being dreamy and haunting while covering everything with cascading, 80s-ish synths, and she certainly accomplishes all that and more on this album. The Dream of Delphi has a slightly different feel than her previous works. This is her motherhood album, and there's more of a lightness and airiness to it. She had a daughter in 2020, and this album is named after/dedicated to her. Interestingly, there are more instrumental/interlude tracks on this album. It's not a bad thing, just an observation. I remember she was trying to get a movie made some years back (around the Lost Girls era, her album previous to this one), perhaps she's trying to get into soundtracks as well. It's a very good album, but I'd point to Fur & Gold or Two Suns if you're looking for a place to start. Sometimes just starting at the beginning is the way to go. Hasta proxima semana!