Essential new albums

Bat for Lashes: The Haunted Man
When Natasha Khan emerged in 2006, we fell for her so hard she may as well have fed us a love potion. Where debut Fur and Gold glittered with this sort of whimsical weirdness, its follow-up, Two Suns, proved that concept albums could be cohesive, inventive, brilliantly catchy and emotionally raw. Both earned Khan Mercury Award nominations. What we’ve heard of the 32-year-old’s third album sounds like the next logical step, being bigger and bolder – particularly in her use of strings – and more knowingly sultry. Wherever her cosmic pop vision takes her, we’ll be following close behind.
Kim Taylor Bennett. Released October 15.