On her debut, Fur and Gold, Natasha Khan cared more 
for wizards than boys—guys were either objects of someone else’s desire (“Prescilla”) or burdens the singer couldn’t wait to unload (“What’s a Girl to Do”). Though Khan’s new album still suggests the soundtrack to a hipster renaissance fair—primal pop songs accessorized with flutes, bells and harmonium—this time the topic is love. The singer creates an alter ego called Pearl, 
who helps her transform from chaste naïf, insulated by fantasy, to a sexually and emotionally aware party girl. “Siren Song” is a slow-burn piano anthem about the deliciousness of psychosexual manipulation; “Sleep Alone” is a folky dirge about the fear of solitude. “Daniel,” a shimmering, unfussy new-wave track, channels both—it’s about falling hard, then wishing you hadn’t. The contrast between Pearl and Natasha isn’t always crisply drawn, but a central conviction animates both: Love is worthwhile—but terrifying.

DOWNLOAD “Daniel,” “Pearl’s Dream”