New music: Sylver Tongue – Creatures

The awkwardly titled Sylver Tongue (apparently inspired by Japan's David Sylvian) is the latest project by former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley. Gone is the perky guitar pop of old and, perhaps inspired by her time with Bat for Lashes, in comes swaths of synths, big echoey drum claps and, on early single Hook You Up , a melody that recalls her former pay mistress Natasha Khan in its delicacy. For the creepily seductive Creatures the pace is quickened, the layered beats galloping over strange squelches and vocal tics as a discordant guitar reacts angrily to all this synth business. For the video – premiered here – Hatherley spends most of it laid on a bed in what looks like the least desirable hotel imaginable (there are lots of skulls on the walls) while two unsavoury characters in masks stand over her. • Creatures is released on 21 May.