The Making of FUR AND GOLD by Bat for Lashes - featuring Natasha Khan and David Kosten

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the debut Bat for Lashes album, Fur and Gold, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Natasha Khan had grown up in Hertfordshire, England and studied art at the University of Brighton. After graduating, she taught as a schoolteacher while writing songs and performing as Bat for Lashes. Her manager, Dick O’Dell, got her a publishing deal and connected her with producer David Kosten to work on some demos. The first Bat for Lashes single, “The Wizard” was released on her own label in early 2006. After signing with Echo, Natasha and David began working on a full-length album together at Jacobs studio in the Surrey countryside. They brought in other musicians, including Abi Fry and Caroline Weeks, who had been playing as a group with Natasha at this time. Fur and Gold was eventually released in 2006.

In this episode, Natasha Khan and David Kosten have an in-depth conversation where they revisit their initial collaboration that continued long after this record. David shares how he was first asked to co-write with Natasha until he realized she had no interest in co-writing and already had a fully formed vision for this album. Natasha describes wanting to create the world of the album and use unconventional recording techniques, such as recording in a forest and under blankets, to try to achieve the sound she had imagined. Even though Natasha had a fondness for lo-fi MIDI sounds, she worked with David to craft a unique hybrid of well-recorded acoustic instruments with lower quality digital components. The result was the Mercury Prize-nominated Fur and Gold, which launched Natasha’s music into the world. From a cinematic approach of method acting and practical effects, to a shared love of girl groups, to David finding a CD-R meant for another producer, to a memorable tour with Devendra Banhart, to taking inspiration from contemporaries Cat Power, Joanna Newsom and Gwen Stefani, to being averse to anything trip-hop, to having high standards and holding the vision, we’ll hear the stories around how the album came together.