The Haunted Man (album)

Background

Khan stated in July 2012 that, after she returned home in March 2010 from touring in support of Two Suns (2009), she tried to rehabilitate herself to rebuild a sense of who she was without the music. In May 2010, Khan stated that although she had enough songs to put out as an album, she wanted to take more time working on new material, as she had been on tour for a long time, and found it boring to write songs about being on tour. She experienced a "profound writer's block", which led her to call Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead, to ask, "What do you do when you feel like you're going to die because you can't write anything?" He advised her to draw, and subsequently Khan took life-drawing classes and a children's illustration course. Combined with intensive dance classes to boost her confidence, Khan began to feel inspiration enough to begin writing again, penning the album's opening song, "Lilies", which she said was inspired by a scene in the 1970 film Ryan's Daughter.

The album's artwork was photographed by American photographer Ryan McGinley, and features a nude Khan carrying an also naked man on her back. 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!"

Singles

"Laura" was released as the album's lead single on 24 July 2012. The song reached number 144 on the UK Singles Chart. "All Your Gold" was released as the second single from the album on 19 September 2012, and was sent to US triple-A radio stations on 22 October. "A Wall" was released as the album's third and final single on 18 February 2013.

Critical reception

The Haunted Man received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78, based on 35 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". 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." 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." 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." Spin's Julianne Escobedo Shepherd felt that it was "strongest in its simplest moments". 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." Q noted a sense of clarity on the album "that comes from the sense of physical boundaries being pushed, of personal space being tested to its limits".

Heather Phares of AllMusic opined, "Focus and restraint might not sound exciting in and of themselves, but The Haunted Man is more direct than any of Bat for Lashes' previous work, and manages to keep the air of mystique around Khan that has made her one to watch and listen to since her early days." 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." 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." Despite citing the album as Khan's "strongest yet", The Observer's Kitty Empire felt that it "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." 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." 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."

Accolades

The album was listed at number six on Spin's 50 Best Albums of 2012, and the magazine wrote, "[W]hen the often-fantastical, mythology-loving [...] Bat for Lashes dropped a testament to her strength—an open, plaintive meditation on courage, self-esteem, and coming into one's own that also pushed her opulent, operatic sound forward—it was cultural reinforcement that self-sacrifice needn't be a part of the female pop-star narrative." DIY named The Haunted Man the 10th best album of 2012, stating it "shines as an exemplary beacon of what can be achieved within the mainstream, given great ambition and artistic integrity." Pitchfork Media placed the album at number 17 on its list of The Top 50 Albums of 2012, calling it "empathetic, bold, and outlandish". The Haunted Man was ranked the 21st and 22nd best album of 2012 by The Guardian and the NME, respectively.

PopMatters included the album at number 33 on its list of The 75 Best Albums of 2012 and noted that it "lays off the thick orchestration to reveal even more rhythmic complexity than usual", while citing it as Khan's "richest release". It was named the 40th best album of 2012 by Fact magazine, which opined that Khan's "mimicry of Kate Bush outpaces her contemporaries (ahem, Florence) and sonically, the influence of austere, icy post-punk is a welcome development. The Haunted Man is not perfect, but with standouts like 'Laura' and 'Lilies', it's a well-composed pop album." AllMusic ranked The Haunted Man as the 44th best album of 2012 and commented it contains "some of [Khan's] most striking and vital-sounding songs yet", concluding, "Balancing the primal beauty of her first album and the elaborate character studies of her second, she moved between sparkling synth pop and spare piano balladry with a dreamlike ease that reaffirmed her as one of pop's most captivating figures since Kate Bush's heyday."

Commercial performance

The Haunted Man debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart, selling 13,334 copies in its first week. The following week, it fell to number thirty-six on sales of 3,991 copies. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number 64, becoming Khan's highest-charting album so far in the United States.

Track listing

All tracks written by Natasha Khan, except where noted.

Personnel

Credits for adapted from the liner notes of The Haunted Man.