Boy Is Fiction: Boy Is Fiction
List Records

Background information on Boy Is Fiction is scarce so the ten tracks on his solid debut set of emotive electronica will have to suffice. Stately piano melodies are the nucleus around which the Australian artist assembles his material. A given song opens with a reverb-heavy weave of pretty piano melodies, then swells dramatically as more instruments appear, with the whirr and click of hefty drum machine beats often offsetting the melancholy mood established by the piano playing. Electronic effects and guitar add texture (a factory machine-like churn provides contrasting counterpoint to the stirring tones that shudder through the generally placid “I'll Look for You”), and push the sound into a blurry zone that resembles a slow-motion meeting ground between ambient and shoegaze.

There's a definite trajectory to the album with the more restrained first half eventually giving way to heavier and aggressive tracks like “Glue/Let Me Think” and “Say Ah” that, in their most aggressive moments, rise to a scalding, beehive roar. In the opening songs, bell-like electric piano tones tinkle brightly in “Bif vs 307”and stately melodies ripple through the late night air in “Why Did You Do That.” Halfway through, organ tones lend “Stack is Bad” a church-like ambiance while crisp funk beats animate “If You Hear Me Fall.” “The Bits in the Numbers” closes the album dramatically with deep synth lines and epic drumming. The journey-like feel is bolstered by the absence of gaps between its ten pieces. If Boy Is Fiction isn't necessarily an overly innovative release on stylistic grounds, it's certainly an accomplished and well-executed debut.

September 2007