17. The Bride / Bat for Lashes

Nobody does spectral beauty like Natasha Khan.  On her fourth album, The Bride, Khan creates a beguiling concept record: the bride stands at the altar and finds out her groom has died in a car crash on the way to the chapel.  As the heroine works through loss, grief, and recovery, her journey starts with a honeymoon alone, a psychologically intriguing decision for the bereft lover.  Khan commented that "the trauma and the grief from the death of Joe, the groom, is more of a metaphor and it allows me to explore the concept of love in general, which requires a death of sorts."

The Bride is theatrical but its fantasy is eerily grounded in realistic personal drama. Khan moves through the heart-wrenching story with her most subtle music to date, although immediate standouts "Joe's Dream" and "Sunday Love" recall the haunting piano/electro-pop perfected on tracks like "Laura" and "Daniel."  Her brilliant voice, as always, carries the emotional force of the record, especially on its second side, when her vocals hover over ghostly dirges of self-discovery.

The album's art, lyrics, videos, and live performances enhance its storytelling.  Khan supported The Bride by playing a series of intimate shows in chapels throughout the United Kingdom, inviting audience members to dress in formal attire.  The D Man would have dressed up, too, needing no excuse to hear one of his favorite sirens do her thing.