Album: Bat for Lashes, Two Suns (Parlophone)

The concept, in this case, being one of split personality, with Khan exploring the world around her in two guises: Natasha herself, and her “alter ego”, a blond femme fatale called Pearl. Her musings, however, sound more meaningful than they actually are.

The music was largely composed with New York psych-rockers Yeasayer, and although the neo-folk sound is sometimes lovely (notably the Sandy Denny-ish “Sleep Alone”), as a whole it would function all too perfectly as background music in one of those shops where they sell crystals. Two Suns’s greatest achievement comes at the end. On duet “The Big Sleep”, she’s persuaded Scott Walker to actually sing (as opposed to hitting tin cans).

Download this: SleepWalker:‘The Big Sleep’