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

Turns out the tales are true and one can quite simply never have enough beauty sleep, especially when it’s in the form of a dreamy pop three-piece. Beauty Sleep were born after a bonding session ft. fridge magnets, rude words and a lot of G&T’s and just one year down the line are giving Belfast another name to shout about (on top of Snow Patrol, Two Door Cinema Club and Pleasure Beach). Not too loudly though – with Clash Magazine branding their last single as “Three minutes of sparkling songwriting” we need all of the Beauty Sleep we can get. 

The bands next single “All In” is set to be released on Friday and does indeed find you wanting ‘All In’ when it comes to their upcoming debut EP Nature Will Eat Me. “All In” sees us met straight away with the serene synths we have grown to expect from the trio which, although shockingly somehow manage to seem enough alone, are joined shortly by a pop-meets-indie-and-gets-on-very-well drumbeat and keys. Skip to the chorus and prepare to be hooked, quite literally. 

With a melody and lyrics highlighting yet again Beauty Sleep’s ‘Sparkling songwriting’ and guitars reminiscent of Fickle Friends, expect a hook that could challenge even the best of pop ‘hey’’s. 

 The band is set to play The Great Escape 2017:

Friday 19th May

The Hope and Ruin 14:30

& 

Jubliee Square 22:30