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The Haunted Man (album)

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Untitled

The Haunted Man is the third studio album by English recording artist Bat for Lashes. It was released on 12 October 2012 by Parlophone. The album was preceded by the lead single "Laura", which was released on 24 July 2012.

Background

Bat for Lashes, otherwise known as Natasha Khan, stated that, after she returned from touring in March 2010, she tried to rehabilitate herself to rebuild a sense of who she was without the music.[1]


The album's artwork was photographed by American photographer Ryan McGinley,[2] and features Khan naked carrying an equally naked man on her back.[3] Khan told the NME: "I really wanted to strip things back in honour of women like Patti Smith; just these raw, honest women. I had no make-up on, it's just me and my haunted man!"[2]

Release and reception

The Haunted Man debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart, selling 13,334 copies.[4] The following week, it fell to number thirty-six on sales of 3,991 copies.[5] The album entered the Billboard 200 at number sixty-four, becoming Khan's highest-charting album so far in the United States.[6]

Singles

"Laura" was released as the album's lead single on 24 July 2012.[7] The song reached number 144 on the UK Singles Chart.[8] The track "Marilyn" debuted online on 13 September 2012.[9] "All Your Gold" was released as the second single from the album on 19 September 2012,[10] and was serviced to US triple-A radio stations on 22 October.[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
The A.V. ClubB−[13]
The Daily Telegraph[14]
The Guardian[15]
The Independent[16]
NME8/10[17]
Now4/5[18]
The Observer[19]
Pitchfork Media8.4/10[20]
Rolling Stone[21]
Slant Magazine[22]

The Haunted Man has received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78, based on 32 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[12] Pitchfork Media's Marc Hogan named The Haunted Man "one of the year's most beguiling albums", writing that it "sounds like effort magnificently realized. The rawness of feeling is achieved through equally raw ambition."[20] Under the Radar's Austin Trunick opined, "Stripped down of any excessive ornamentation, it's the most raw incarnation of Bat For Lashes we've heard yet [...] From the beginning, it's the passion in her vocals that drives the record, seemingly less concerned this time around with crafting the atmospheric dreamworlds of her past work and more in finding some emotional truth in the simple compositions."[23] Anupa Mistry of Now described the album as "yearning, elegant pop music in line with the past year's best: patterned and dreamy like Jessie Ware's Devotion, unrepentant like Fiona Apple's The Idler Wheel and as beguilingly honest as St. Vincent's Strange Mercy."[18] Ben Hewitt of the NME commented that "while The Haunted Man deals in less trinkets than its predecessor, it's not scant in splendour. Instead, for large swathes, it's like being plunged into a fairytale soundtracked by skin-prickling electro and populated by downtrodden sods hunting for breadcrumbs of comfort."[17] Rolling Stone's Will Hermes praised the album as Khan's "sexiest, spookiest LP", stating that "the visions here seem all her own. And they're pretty awesome."[21]

The Guardian critic Alexis Petridis wrote that The Haunted Man "sounds like a bold, confident album that strips away a lot of the sonic embellishments from Khan's sound", adding that "[p]erhaps it's the sound of someone who's worked out that less can sometimes be more, that not trying too hard isn't the same as not trying."[15] Slant Magazine's Kevin Liedel viewed that "while the album's comparatively restrained arrangements occasionally wilt in the face of Khan's fierce melodrama, The Haunted Man is still a worthy, often gorgeous entry in the Bat for Lashes canon."[22] In a mixed review, Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club critiqued that Khan's "moody charisma and piercing vocals ensure the album is still an enjoyable listen. All the same, it's disappointing that The Haunted Man's beauty is too often only skin deep."[13] Despite citing The Haunted Man as "Khan's strongest yet", The Observer's Kitty Empire felt that the album "does not [...] deal the killer blow of originality that by now Khan should have in her power", concluding that "The Haunted Man is an assured and sonically seductive record—if only it didn't echo a little too often the sound of other women's work."[19] Andy Gill of The Independent argued that "[t]here are moments on The Haunted Man when Natasha Khan's carefully-marshalled musical forces evoke exactly the right ambience for songs pivoting on the notion of renewal. But sometimes the recurrent mood of ecstatic affirmation of life that's evident in her singing can be short-changed by arrangements that fuss to no great purpose, dissipating their impact in brittle beats and pointless detail."[16] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph expressed that although the album "occasionally draw[s] blood", it "doesn't live up to its stripped and dangerous cover", adding, "For every song that opens up and invites you in to experience the startling wonders of [Khan's] private world, there's another that just hangs like a gauzy veil of unusual sounds and vague lyrics, not so much impenetrable as too insubstantial to be worth the effort of investigation."[14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Natasha Khan, except where noted

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Lilies"Khan, David Kosten4:45
2."All Your Gold"Khan, Dan Carey, Kosten (add.)4:31
3."Horses of the Sun"Khan, Kosten4:59
4."Oh Yeah"Khan, Carey, Kosten (add.), Rob Ellis (add.)4:54
5."Laura" (Khan, Justin Parker)Khan, Carey, Kosten (add.)4:25
6."Winter Fields"Khan, Kosten3:41
7."The Haunted Man"Khan, Kosten5:16
8."Marilyn"Khan, Carey, Kosten4:35
9."A Wall"Khan, Carey, Kosten4:00
10."Rest Your Head"Khan, Carey, Kosten (add.)4:03
11."Deep Sea Diver"Khan, Carey, Kosten (add.)6:19
iTunes bonus tracks[24]
No.TitleLength
12."Lumen"2:23
13."Daphne"3:24
14."Laura" (video)4:30

Personnel

Credits adapted from The Haunted Man album liner notes.[25]

Charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[26] 21
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[27] 12
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[28] 21
Dutch Albums Chart[29] 81
Finnish Albums Chart[30] 18
French Albums Chart[31] 31
German Albums Chart[32] 72
Irish Albums Chart[33] 7
Italian Albums Chart[34] 74
Portuguese Albums Chart[35] 24
Scottish Albums Chart[36] 8
Swedish Albums Chart[37] 53
Swiss Albums Chart[38] 29
UK Albums Chart[39] 6
US Billboard 200[40] 64
US Alternative Albums[40] 13
US Rock Albums[40] 21

Release history

Region Date Label
Australia[41] 12 October 2012 EMI
Germany[42]
Netherlands[43]
Ireland[44] Parlophone
United Kingdom[45] 15 October 2012
France[46] EMI
Italy[47] 16 October 2012
Finland[48] 19 October 2012
United States[49] 23 October 2012 Capitol Records
Poland[50] 29 October 2012 EMI

References

  1. ^ Snapes, Laura (18 October 2012). "Bat for Lashes". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  2. ^ a b Hooton, Christopher (24 July 2012). "Bat For Lashes on naked album cover 'I wanted The Haunted Man to be raw'". Metro. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Bat For Lashes poses naked on 'The Haunted Man' album cover". NME. IPC Media. 23 July 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  4. ^ Jones, Alan (22 October 2012). "Official Charts Analysis: Jake Bugg beats Leona Lewis to No.1 by 8k sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 23 October 2012. (subscription required)
  5. ^ Jones, Alan (29 October 2012). "Official Charts Analysis: Taylor Swift LP sells 61k". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 1 November 2012. (subscription required)
  6. ^ Willams, Paul (1 November 2012). "US charts: Swift poised to overtake One Direction's sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Laura – Single by Bat for Lashes". iTunes Store US. Apple Inc. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  8. ^ "CHART: CLUK Update 4.08.2012 (wk30)". Official Charts Company. The Zobbel Website. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  9. ^ Pelly, Jenn (13 September 2012). "New Bat for Lashes: "Marilyn"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  10. ^ "All Your Gold – Single by Bat for Lashes". iTunes Store UK. Apple Inc. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  11. ^ "Triple A > Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  12. ^ a b "The Haunted Man – Bat for Lashes". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  13. ^ a b Zaleski, Annie (16 October 2012). "Bat For Lashes: The Haunted Man". The A.V. Club. Onion, Inc. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  14. ^ a b McCormick, Neil (12 October 2012). "Bat for Lashes, The Haunted Man, Pop CD review". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  15. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (11 October 2012). "Bat for Lashes: The Haunted Man – review". The Guardian. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  16. ^ a b Gill, Andy (13 October 2012). "Album: Bat For Lashes, The Haunted Man (Parlophone)". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  17. ^ a b Hewitt, Ben (12 October 2012). "Bat For Lashes – 'The Haunted Man'". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  18. ^ a b Mistry, Anupa (18–25 October 2012). "Bat for Lashes – The Haunted Man". Now. 32 (7). Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  19. ^ a b Empire, Kitty (14 October 2012). "Bat for Lashes: The Haunted Man – review". The Observer. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  20. ^ a b Hogan, Marc (22 October 2012). "Bat For Lashes: The Haunted Man". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  21. ^ a b Hermes, Will (23 October 2012). "The Haunted Man". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  22. ^ a b Liedel, Kevin (19 October 2012). "Bat for Lashes: The Haunted Man". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  23. ^ Trunick, Austin (19 October 2012). "Bat For Lashes: The Haunted Man". Under the Radar. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  24. ^ "The Haunted Man by Bat for Lashes". iTunes Store UK. Apple Inc. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  25. ^ The Haunted Man (CD liner notes). Parlophone. 2012. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |artist= ignored (|others= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |publisherid= ignored (help)
  26. ^ "Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  27. ^ "Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  28. ^ "Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  29. ^ "Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  30. ^ "Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  31. ^ "Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man" (in French). lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  32. ^ "Bat For Lashes, The Haunted Man" (in German). Media Control. charts.de. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  33. ^ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 18 October 2012". Irish Recorded Music Association. Chart-Track. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  34. ^ "Artisti – Classifica settimanale dal 15/10/2012 al 21/10/2012" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  35. ^ "Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man". portuguesecharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  36. ^ "2012 Top 40 Scottish Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  37. ^ "Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  38. ^ "Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  39. ^ "2012 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  40. ^ a b c "The Haunted Man – Bat for Lashes". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  41. ^ "Haunted Man, The – Bat For Lashes". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  42. ^ "BAT FOR LASHES // The Haunted Man" (in German). EMI Music Germany. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  43. ^ "Haunted Man, Bat For Lashes" (in Dutch). bol.com. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  44. ^ "Bat For Lashes – HAUNTED MAN". Tower Records Ireland. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  45. ^ "Bat For Lashes: Haunted Man". HMV. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  46. ^
  47. ^ "Bat for Lashes – The Haunted Man" (in Italian). Internet Bookshop Italia. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  48. ^ "Bat For Lashes: The Haunted Man" (in Finnish). EMI Music Finland. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  49. ^ "The Haunted Man: Bat For Lashes". Amazon.com. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  50. ^ "The Haunted Man – Bat for Lashes" (in Polish). Empik. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
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