Sexwitch - Sexwitch (2015)

SEXWITCH is the new project from Natasha Khan (AKA Bat for Lashes), producer Dan Carey and Toy. After collaborating on the pre-revolution Iranian folk song 'The Bride' back in 2013, Khan and Carey were inspired to find more hidden gems from 70s psych and folk records from around the world and give them the same treatment. The pair went record shopping and chose music from Morocco, Thailand, Iran and the USA. After translating the lyrics of their finds, the content of which cover everything from folklore and spirituality to love, sex and death, they went back into Carey's South London studio with Toy to record the tracks live, in one session. The result was six visceral and thrilling songs that make up the album. They are all covers, the lyrics and music adapted by Khan, produced by Carey and backed by Toy's unique musical and spontaneous style. The project was approached more as a creative happening than a traditional album recording, all the tracks recorded live to maintain its natural and instinctive feel, the idea being to create something new from these powerful songs while remaining faithful to the originals and their message. Some of the lyrics are strikingly outspoken as well as playful, and at times overtly sexual. Refreshingly, half the track list features empowered female protagonists; "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 form the addictive and trance inducing 'Ha Howa Ha Howa',the lyrics sound at once exotic, yet familiar as they seem to traverse place and time. Although the majority of these songs hail from the Middle and Far East, it wasn't a deliberate choice by Khan and Carey, who picked out songs based on the power, rhythm and groove of the music rather than their cultural origin. One of the songs hails from the USA, Skip Spence's 'War In Peace', but it sits perfectly among the others with its hypnotic vocal and enticing melodies. Khan and Carey were keen to celebrate all these cultures and their folklore, shining a light on these captivating and powerful songs, in an effort to dissolve boundaries between countries and cultures through music, all the while experimenting with the current psych movement.