As far as thematic fodder for Natasha Khan goes, the subject of upcoming film How I Live Now could hardly be a more perfect fit. The movie focuses on world war erupting in 21st-century Britain, while the ghosts of conflict and the English countryside played prominent parts in the Bat for Lashes mastermind’s last album, 2012’s Essential The Haunted Man. She has both to work with in her video-directing debut for “Garden’s Heart,” a song she recorded with composer Jon Hopkins for the movie’s soundtrack.
“I hear a whisper in the trees / Where I am you and you are me,” Khan sings in a captivating video that shows the film’s star, Saoirse Ronan, wearing a soldier’s helmet, bathing in a tub full of sprouting greenery, and eventually crossing over into a mystical realm, with an ending we don’t want to spoil. Khan’s videos as Bat for Lashes are typically top-notch, so her success here as a first-time director is no surprise. We’re happy to report that the detail-rich song ± with its insistent bass and sprinkles of piano — would fit in just fine on a Bat for Lashes LP. Turns out Khan’s meeting Hollywood (okay, Oscar-winning Scottish director Kevin Macdonald) on her own terms.
According to Digital Spy, “Garden’s Heart” will be out as a digital single on October 7 via Parlophone, while the film, an adaptation of a young adult novel by Meg Rosoff, comes out on October 4. A full soundtrack is due in November via Just Music, and will include songs by Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, Daughter, and Amanda Palmer.
