Batflowers

{{Use Australian English|date=September 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Batflowers | type = studio | artist = Megan Washington | cover = Batflowers_by_Washington.png | alt = | released = {{start date|df=y|2020|8|28}} | recorded = | studio = | genre = | length = {{duration|m=49|s=26}} | label = * Washington * Island | producer = {{hlist|Gabriel Strum|Luke Holland}} | prev_title = There There | prev_year = 2014 | next_title = Hot Fuss | next_year = 2022 | misc = {{Singles | name = Batflowers | type = studio | single1 = Dark Parts | single1date = 15 May 2020<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/au/album/dark-parts-single/1511446792|title=Dark Park – single|website=Apple Music|date=15 May 2020|accessdate=9 August 2020|archive-date=21 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021042828/https://music.apple.com/au/album/dark-parts-single/1511446792|url-status=dead}}</ref> | single2 = Switches | single2date = 26 June 2020<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/au/album/switches-single/1518535552|title=Switches – single|website=Apple Music|date=26 June 2020|accessdate=9 August 2020}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> | single3 = Kiss Me Like We're Gonna Die | single3date = 13 July 2020<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/au/album/kiss-me-like-were-gonna-die-single/1522637609|title=Kiss Me Like We're Gonna Die – single|website=Apple Music|date=13 July 2020|accessdate=9 August 2020}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> | single4 = Achilles Heart | single4date = 23 July 2020<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/au/album/achilles-heart-single/1523241949|title=Achilles Heart – single|website=Apple Music|date=23 July 2020|accessdate=9 August 2020}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> | single5 = Batflowers | single5date = 6 August 2020<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/au/album/batflowers-single/1524743564|title=Batflowers – single|website=Apple Music|date=6 August 2020|accessdate=9 August 2020}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> }} }}

'''''Batflowers''''' is the third studio album released by Australian singer-songwriter Megan Washington. It appeared on 28 August 2020, six years after her previous studio album, ''There There''.

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2020, the album won the ARIA Award for Best Cover Art for the work by Adam Dal Pozzo, Megan Washington and Michelle Pitiris.<ref name="ARIA 2020 Wins">{{cite web | url = https://www.aria.com.au/awards/news/and-the-2020-aria-award-goes-to | title = And the 2020 ARIA Awards Go To… | publisher = Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) | access-date = 30 November 2020 }}</ref> The album's ninth track, "Lazarus Drug", played during the final scene of "The Sign", a 28-minute episode of ''Bluey'', which aired on 14 April 2024.

==Background and release==

Washington said "I've been working on the record since 2015, I was trying so hard, that was the problem, actually. I was trying to be, like, fancy or something? What I've learned the literal hard way is when I try too hard, it sucks."<ref name="myjob"/>

As quoted in the Daily Telegraph newspaper in 2018, "''Sugardoom'' is about good old-fashioned love. It was deliberately intended to be a departure from 2014's ''There There'', an intensely personal EP that in part detailed a broken engagement. The album is described as 'full of lush', '60s-inspired tones, this album chronicles the intensity of her past two years."<ref name="McNab 2018">{{Cite news|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-sydney/megan-washington-looks-to-the-future-as-she-debuts-fourth-album-with-sydney-symphony-orchestra-at-opera-house/news-story/65464723ee96a88ef319e623823273f4|title=Megan Washington looks to the future as she debuts fourth album with Sydney Symphony Orchestra at Opera House|last=McNab|first=Heather|date=20 September 2017|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref>

Washington stated that the album would not be called ''Sugardoom'' and that it would be released in early 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mornings with Zan Rowe |url=https://www.abc.net.au/doublej/programs/mornings/megan-washington-zan-rowe/10459938 |website=Double J |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=8 November 2018 |accessdate=8 November 2018}}</ref> While the album has been finished, Washington stated she has been working on other projects so she has placed the album "in the fridge" for the time being and there is no announced release date.<ref>{{cite web| first=Sarah |last=Bellamy |url=https://musicfeeds.com.au/features/megan-washington-on-we-are-twenty-new-music-and-deciding-to-put-a-finished-new-album-in-the-fridge-for-a-while/ |title=Megan Washington on the Future-Facing 'We Are Twenty' Lineup, New Music & Choosing to Put a Finished New Album "In the Fridge" for a While |website=Music Feeds |date=18 October 2019 |accessdate=3 January 2019}}</ref>

Washington recalls a conversation with her manager in early 2019 where her manager (Cathy) said "You're kind of kooky and fun, but you don't get that impression from your music.. because you're really serious in your songs." Washington began working on the album, and it was set to be released under the title ''Sugardoom'', then later ''Achilles Heart'', with the later proceeding as far as a vinyl test pressing. Washington said it was "beautiful and assured and confident… but just not stupid enough". In 2020, Washington said she "saw the light" saying "There's this idea of professionalism and perfection that I just don't believe in anymore."<ref name="myjob">{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/en_au/features/megan-washington-batflowers-album-2020-2739657|title=Megan Washington: It's my job to give as much fun stuff to the zeitgeist as I can|website=NME|date=28 August 2020 |accessdate=31 August 2020}}</ref>

Most of the production is by Gabriel Strum ({{abbr|p.k.a.|performer known as}} Japanese Wallpaper) with Washington remembering, "He has a jazz background like me, so his knowledge of what makes music go, is pretty complete, and on top of that, he has amazing production skills which make him a dream producer."<ref name="Baker">{{cite web | url = https://www.theaureview.com/music/interview-washington-on-finding-the-secret-ingredient-for-her-new-lp-batflowers/ | title = Interview: Washington on finding the secret ingredient for her new LP ''Batflowers'' | last = Baker | first = Bruce | work = The AU Review | date = 27 August 2020 | accessdate = 6 September 2020 }}</ref> "Lazarus Drug" was co-produced by Strum with Luke Howard, "[it] was a good one, because it was built with me on Minjerribah at Stradbroke Island, Gab in Melbourne, and [Howard] who did some co-production. Sam [Dixon] was in London, and he mixed it. It had a good geographical span. I don't know a lot about modular synths – and he makes everything seem like the cosmos."<ref name="Baker"/>

==Reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = ''The Guardian'' | rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="TG">{{cite news |last=Zuel |first=Bernard |title=Washington: ''Batflowers'' review – a brooding swirl of survival and surrender |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/aug/28/washington-batflowers-review-an-intoxicating-swirl-of-survival |newspaper=The Guardian |date=27 August 2020 |access-date=28 August 2020}}</ref> | rev2 = ''NME'' | rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="NME">{{cite web |last=Triscari |first=Caleb |title=Washington: ''Batflowers'' review: an all-rounded showcase of Brisbane singer's talent |url=https://www.nme.com/en_au/reviews/album/megan-washington-batflowers-2738620 |website=NME |date=27 August 2020 |access-date=28 August 2020}}</ref> }}

Bernard Zuel from ''The Guardian'' said "Megan Washington's third album ripples and glistens but is best described as contained, its strongest messages coming in its most exposed moments."<ref name="TG"/>

Caleb Triscari from ''NME'' said "With ''Batflowers'', Washington has shown how much an artist can mature and grow over six years, offering up a record that is as stylistically complex as it is worth the wait."<ref name="NME"/>

== Track listing == {{Track listing | headline = ''Batflowers'' track listing | total_length = 49:26 | title1 = Batflowers | writer1 = Megan Washington, Jason Wu | length1 = 3:04 | title2 = Not a Machine | writer2 = Washington, Mario Spate | length2 = 4:37 | title3 = Dark Parts | writer3 = Washington, Samuel Dixon | length3 = 2:59 | title4 = Paradise Lost | writer4 = | length4 = 3:26 | title5 = Switches | writer5 = Washington, Dixon | length5 = 5:28 | title6 = Catherine Wheel | writer6 = Washington | length6 = 4:30 | title7 = The Give | writer7 = Washington | length7 = 4:45 | title8 = Silencio | writer8 = Washington, Dixon | length8 = 3:49 | title9 = Lazarus Drug | writer9 = Washington | length9 = 5:32 | title10 = Move You | writer10 = Washington, Dixon | length10 = 3:47 | title11 = Achilles Heart | writer11 = Wu, Washington | length11 = 3:21 | title12 = Kiss Me Like We're Gonna Die | writer12 = Washington, Alex Evert, Sam Fisher, Alex Terheimer | length12 = 4:08 }}

==Charts== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |+ Chart performance of ''Batflowers'' ! scope="col"| Chart (2020) ! scope="col"| Peak<br />position |- {{album chart|Australia|23|artist=Megan Washington|album=Batflowers|rowheader=true|accessdate=5 September 2020}} |}

==Release history== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |- ! scope="col"| Region ! scope="col"| Date ! scope="col"| Format ! scope="col"| Label ! scope="col"| Catalogue |- ! scope="row"| Various | 28 August 2020 | {{flat list| *CD *digital download *streaming }} | Washington / Island Records Australia | 3504377 |- ! scope="row"| Australia | 2 October 2020<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/vinyl-washington-batflowers-limited-splatter-vinyl-2lp|title= Batflowers (Limited Splatter Vinyl)|website=JBHiFi|accessdate=31 August 2020}}</ref> | 2×LP | Island Records Australia | 0733673 |}

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{Megan Washington}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2020 albums Category:ARIA Award–winning albums Category:Megan Washington albums