Bat For Lashes Members Team Up With Toy To Form New Band Sexwitch

Natasha Khan from Bat For Lashes, producer Dan Carey, and British rock group Toy have teamed up together to create a new band called Sexwitch. Khan debuted the new project this past weekend with a surprise set at Green Man Festival in Wales.

Khan announced the self titled debut album set to be released September 25 via Echo/BMG but you can listen to the sultry “Helelyos” here:

The group first collaborated in 2013 on the pre-evolution Iranian folk song “The Bride.” Khan and Carey were inspired to cover more 1970s psych and folk songs from around the world. The duo went window shopping everywhere from Morocco, Thailand, Iran and North America. After selecting the tracks they wanted the lyrics were then translated to their liking, covering love, sex, death and spirituality. Carey then stepped up to provide the studio that Khan and Toy ended up recording the tracks live in one session.

What they ended up with were the six thrilling tracks that make up the album. All the songs are covers with Khan adapting the lyrics and music, produced by Carey and backed by Toy’s unique musical style. The album was meant to be live to capture the tradition and creativity of the project, the idea being to create something new from the songs while maintaining it’s original soul. The lyrics range from playful to sexual. “He addicted me and I addicted him with a thousand kisses… He teased me with a Fiat and I teased him with intelligence. He teased me with the Honda and I teased him with fashion. He teased me with 200 and I teased him with teeth.” Taken from “Ha Howa Ha Howa.” Most of the songs originate from the Middle East, though it wasn’t intentional based on Khan and Karey. The duo was keen to celebrate and embrace the cultures these powerful songs originate from, all while experimenting with the psych movement.

Their track list includes:

Sexwitch

01. Ghoroobaa Ghashangan (Iran)
02. Ha Howa Ha Howa (Morocco)
03. Helelyos (Iran)
04. Kassidat El Hakka (Morocco)
05. War In Peace (U.S.A)
06. Lam Plearn Kiew Bao (Thailand)

Sexwitch will also headline London’s XOYO on September 29.