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Dec 31, 2012The Haunted Man is so effortlessly emotive that it seems to demand that we demand even more from it. Or at least, it would, if it weren't so easy to get lost in the many layers of these melodies and start thinking about the ghosts that Bat For Lashes is trying to chase away.
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MagnetDec 4, 2012At it's best, the record finds her swapping the heavy-handed concepts that've largely driven her work to date for the irrefutable impact of raw lyricism. [No. 93, p.56]
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Nov 5, 2012Unlike previous Bat for Lashes albums, which grew gimmicky and overloaded, The Haunted Man keeps Ms. Khan and her unexpectedly succinct melodies in the foreground, urgent and unguarded.
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Oct 31, 2012How can you talk about The Haunted Man without calling it "achingly beautiful"? This is a real problem, and it necessitates a thesaurus.
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Oct 30, 2012Focus 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.
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Oct 26, 2012Khan has truly emerged as one of modern pop's most thrilling voices. Steeped in references? Perhaps, but Khan's own spirit of invention and emotional wisdom are through lines which make The Haunted Man a singular journey.
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Oct 25, 2012What stands out about The Haunted Man [is] how Khan is able to wring out so much emotion from such clinically meticulous compositions... music that cuts this close to the bone can only be the product of an individual voice and imagination.
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Oct 24, 2012The Haunted Man is defined by a more refined sensibility, drawing back the playful clatter of her first two albums in favour of sparser arrangements and a slightly elegiac tone.
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Oct 23, 2012On The Haunted Man, Khan continues to pursue a similar approach to combining ambition and concision, but, unfortunately, the result is a disappointingly tepid album.
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Oct 23, 2012The Haunted Man may not reveal a drastic stylistic shift, but the subtle difference is a nonetheless compelling documentation of the process of metamorphosis.
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Oct 23, 2012The Haunted Man is mostly a collection of fairly elementary meditations on the heart, but, without a doubt, there is still thunder in Natasha's soul.
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Oct 23, 2012The Haunted Man is her weightiest work so far.
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Oct 23, 2012The visions here seem all her own. And they're pretty awesome.
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Oct 22, 2012At once striking and enigmatic-- and artfully constructed.
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Oct 22, 2012The songs are expensive in their depth of emotion but comforting in their intimacy and alluring appeal.
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Oct 19, 2012While 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.
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Oct 19, 2012Stripped down of any excessive ornamentation, it's the most raw incarnation of Bat For Lashes we've heard yet.
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MojoOct 18, 2012This album elicits a powerful aura, which continues to resonate potently several hours, even days, after the last note has died. [Nov 2012, p.82]
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Q MagazineOct 18, 2012There's clarity on The Haunted Man that comes from the sense of physical boundaries being pushed, of personal space being tested to its limits. [Nov 2012, p.97]
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Oct 18, 2012Khan might be getting bolder, bigger, and more experimental, but pushing past what everyone expects or wants from you as an artist sometimes works - even the third time around.
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Oct 18, 2012The Haunted Man is yearning, elegant pop music in line with the past year's best.
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Oct 17, 2012For the most part this is a composed, nourishing pop album.
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Oct 16, 2012While The Haunted Man is an impressive record, one heavy with earnestness and polished sophistication, it's more like The Tin Man: somehow it lacks a heart.
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Oct 16, 2012It's safe to say that Natasha Khan has once again managed to craft an album that ticks all the boxes, while also showing a maturity and evolution from her Mercury nominated sophomore album.
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Oct 16, 2012Her 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.
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Oct 15, 2012While every track on The Haunted Man is brimming with invention, there's little to keep you coming back for repeat listens.
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Oct 15, 2012It's a skilled blend of the organic and the electronic.
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Oct 15, 2012Sometimes 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.
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Oct 15, 2012The 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.
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Oct 15, 2012This effort is laudable, but she sounds best when pushing the envelope. A lively talent like hers shouldn't be so concealed.
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Oct 15, 2012So while The Haunted Man deals in less trinkets than its predecessor, it's not scant in splendour.
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Oct 15, 2012[The Haunted Man is] beautiful, daring, and captivating, the sound of pop's dark heart carving out its own niche and cementing Khan's status as one of our most inventive, ambitious artists.
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Oct 12, 2012The Haunted Man she's exorcised some of those ghosts and gone some way to becoming her own woman. [Nov 2012, p.70]
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Oct 12, 2012ADespite occasionally drawing blood, The Haunted Man doesn't live up to its stripped and dangerous cover, often retreating to gambol about in the backwaters of Khan's imagination.
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Oct 11, 2012Inventive and dark and sensual.
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Oct 11, 2012As the title track gradually morphs from delicate ballad to fisherman shanty to blissful climax it's hard not to be awed, even if those casual listeners might not find much to keep them.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 82 out of 88
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Mixed: 2 out of 88
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Negative: 4 out of 88
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Oct 23, 2012
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Sep 11, 2019A well done album, full of new beautiful sounds, less haunting than it's predecessors, but still BFL in essence.
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Oct 17, 2013Amazing. Every song is fantastic. Natasha is uber-talented............................................................................................