Brighton's Dog In The Snow coaxes uneasy tension with the yearning "Magic"

Having often hearkened the mysterious and elliptical nature of Bat For Lashes’ earliest work until now, "Magic" is the most direct and straightforward-sounding track Brown has released to date. Though, as Brown has proven time and again in her music, there’s more here than meets the eye.

"Magic"'s literal message is a simple one, conveyed in simple words - "dreaming is okay / I want to feel the magic again..." - as Brown pines for the unencumbered imagination of her youth. It’s not just what Brown says that slices beneath the skin, it’s how she says it; her occasional rasp and audible inhales throughout reveal the song’s base coat of desperation. She’s not as much telling us that dreaming is okay, but more so uneasily attempting to convince herself that it’s so.

Brown takes her show on the road at Brighton’s Alternative Escape festival in Brighton 19 May and a handful UK shows next month.

June

• 14 – The Canteen, Bristol
• 15 – Talking Heads, Southampton
• 16 – Camden Assembly Hall, London
• 17 – Green Door Store, Brighton