Fake Laugh At The Great Escape Tonight
- Written by Marky Edison
Fake Laugh’s self-titled debut album arrives this July as the delicate accumulation of years of experimentation. Unfurling slowly, the full length has been a gradual process: part playfulness, part search for pop perfection. Tuning into the digital disconnect of contemporary life, the album is a vivid rummage through the familiar worlds of love, confusion and self-questioning, refocused through the bright lens of Berlin-born, London-based artist Kamran Khan.
Currently touring as a member of The Japanese House, and having previously played in Lovepark, Khan has been tirelessly grasping time in between for writing and recording whenever possible. A busy 2016 saw Khan release the energetic Ice EP, the bubbly trepidation of double A-side 'Mind Tricks/Birdsong Lullaby' and the more complex and serene Great Ideas EP. All three were important steps towards setting the foundations for his debut album.
Khan confesses that once upon a time Fake Laugh was “a bit of fun on the side”. However, now with the project his sole focus, there’s a revitalised commitment to recording that saw him finishing the album this year. Working with producer Theo Verney (Traams, O.Chapman), Khan brought the intimacy of his bedroom recordings and sentimental lyrics to glistening pop melodies that belie a much bigger and more accomplished sound.
Inspired by the likes of Broadcast and Beach House, Verney and Khan looked to create something opaque but gripping. Or as Khan puts it: "ambitious good pop songs". “I wanted to make a point of writing more traditional and direct songs” he explains. “I wanted to make sure that every part I wrote for each instrument was as melodious as possible. That sort of super satisfying feeling you can get from music sometimes is the aim for to me. The challenge is being able to hit that spot.”
Fake Laugh track list:
1. Melt
2. Short of Breath
3. Kinda Girl
5. As I Get To Know You Better
5. Hiding Place
6. Freely
7. You Will Find Out
8. Wouldn’t Bother
9. Physical (ft Soph Nathan)
10. You Do Know
11. Time to Die
Fake Laugh live dates:
19 May Brighton Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, Brighton @ 2:15am (Unofficial TGE party - free entry)
20 May Brighton The Joker, Brighton @ 7:30pm (Unofficial TGE party - free entry)
31 Jul Nottingham Rough Trade
1 Aug London Rough Trade East
