Fiction

Debut artists Fiction hail from London and bring a breezy, light sound with their single "Curiosity". Gently blending Jam-esque riffing and with the ska-lite playing styles of bands such as Vampire Weekend, "Curiosity" lives up to its name - failing to carve a new sound entirely, Fiction instead offer a pleasant if forgettable tune, offering a small amount of quirk backed up by a tried and tested groove and simple drums. Lead singer Mike Barrett sings along in full welleresque fashion, rounding out a basic sound in need of some deeper exploration by the band members.
It´s certainly an interesting start: repeat playings offer a better idea of the direction in which Fiction are heading, certainly leaning towards danceable indie carved from the same bark as other London acts such as Hard-Fi. The lack of pretention is to be applauded though: it doesn´t feel like a message being rammed down your throat, or a band who know they are great without the chops to back it up. Instead, the music speaks for itself, being nothing more than a simple but well crafted slice of pop music and playing it safe whilst entertaining.
B-side Zebra Crossing offers a little more insight: more ambitious playing reinforces the ska stylings that so obviously influence the band, whilst adding more of a dark dance groove: obviously a more freeform style more akin to the band in their natural state and yet actually coming off as the better track. It will certainly be interesting to see where they go next.
Curiosity is an acceptable debut that won´t set the world on fire, but certainly should draw some attention to the lads before the next release. I certainly want to hear what´s next, and hope that they build on the stylings of "Zebra Crossing" instead of the play-it-safe sound of "Curiosity" - we could then be looking at a band with the potential to start hunting for the tag of "Next Big Thing".