Bat For Lashes - The Bride

YOU will never think of a wedding day in the same way again.

Bat For Lashes' new record, The Bride, sees multi-instrumentalist Natasha Khan in full concept album mode with a dark story about a doomed marriage.

Written as the soundtrack for a film in mind, each song tells part of the story of a woman whose fiancé has been killed in a crash on the way to the church for their wedding.

The bride then flees the scene to take the honeymoon alone to reflect on love and loss.

The result of two years of experimentation, The Bride is a daring and ambitious piece of music and storytelling that goes beyond what you would normally expect from an album.

But Ivor Novello-winning Khan has a distinct style will not suit all listeners.

The 36-year-old has an incredible voice but at times it dominates the musical accompaniment.

The instrumentation on The Bride is diverse – with piano, violin, electronic and string sections.

But the music is often minimalistic and fades into the background.

At times this works, giving songs like I Will Love Again an ethereal quality.

But more of a balance could have been struck.

Other exceptions are the synth-lead In God's House which sounds like Kate Bush in session with Radiohead, Sunday Love which increases the album's typically slow tempo and Honeymooning Alone which uses backing singers and strings to haunting effect.

In a world where music is increasingly becoming digitised, it is also worth pointing out that the artwork on the physical version of the album is beautiful.

Khan worked with artist Neil Krug on the stunning images and photography so if you are buying The Bride make sure you go old school and get it on CD.

DAVID MORGAN