REVIEW// Sexwitch/ S/T

Bat For Lashes embraces her dark side on demonic new album

Demonic, hypnotising, enchanting and ultimately weird. These are just some of the words that come to mind when listening to Sexwitch, the brain child of Bat For Lashes' Natasha Khan and Toy. 

Taking traditional 20th century folk songs originating from Iran, Morocco and Thailand and frying them in acid, Sexwitch is a far cry away from the accessible synth-pop of 2012's The Haunted Man. 

Opener Ha Howa Ha Howa's otherworldly crys of 'He addicted me and I addicted him' is a demonic call-to-arms, almost as if Khan is enticing Lucifer himself to this Satanic party.

Heleyos' twitching bass and abrasive guitars is a psychedelic, acid-rock  wig out reminiscent of Savages corrosive post-punk.

On the epic, 8 minute bombast of Kassidat El Hakka Khan chants "When I die I'm going back to what I was- nothing" as though she's some kind of ritual-inciting voodoo witch doctor as tribal drums clatter beneath an eerie guitar riff. 

Sexwitch is no Laura. Fans of Khan's piano-led ballads will find no solace in the album's psych-folk, as her in ethereal croon is replaced by a haunting howl it makes for a unsettling, almost primal listen that is, ultimately weird.