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It is so humbling to see your favourite musicians progress and experiment as they become even better human beings than you thought possible. Sexwitch was shaped by Natasha Khan who has taken a sideways step from Bat For Lashes. Producer Dan Carey and marvellous psych-rock band TOY join Khan to dabble in the pursuit of such a creative project.
Natasha Khan and Toy to form the perfect sound of ethereal euphoria with the debut album from Sexwitch, an international journey that relishes the strange.
The idea of these two very different sounds joining camps is quite refreshing. It shows that music is fluid and that the nature of genres can be shared between refined musicians. In all honesty, it was such a pleasant surprise when so many music worlds prefer to play it safe.
Three countries, Morocco, Thailand and Iran, inspired Sexwitch to make six new tracks, all which are covers of songs in different languages. These cultural vibes channelled by Sexwitch have been translated into instrumental sounds via Khan’s voice. Khan uses her magical ethereal charm to capture authentic desperation in the form of these sonic cultural variations. Khan says the project took root when she bought, “Old weird psych records from different countries, strange folk mountain songs,” and then invited TOY to record covers of the songs. They were able to record the LP in one successful day, everything authentic and unrehearsed.
In true TOY style, drums and guitars are still very important in the foundation to Sexwitch’s basic sound. This is obvious in Heleyos and Khan’s role takes the back seat when percussion steps forward. All songs are beautifully haunting, and that’s something that comes natural to both Khan and Toy. War of Peace really stands out on the LP with a Woodstock-era vibe and seems to draw influence from that time’s guitar riffs. The guitars in Ghoroobaa Ghashangan are very tropical, making this the catchiest cut on the LP. It also showcases Khan’s flexible vocal range and her ability to sing sounds that translate to fear and despair, while the touch of rock is present towards the end of the sound.
This project is really all about sound as a vessel of musical universality. This is shown through the sometimes non-existent lyrics that are replaced by vocalised rhythms. Sexwitch shakes the hands of Morroco, Thailand and Iran in their specially crafted songs that they pay honour to. It is inevitable that some people will prefer TOY and Khan as two separate entities, yet as times change new sounds are created. There is one thing that everyone will agree about Sexwitch, it is a project utterly inspiring to the standardised music realm.
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