Fiction Schallplatten & CDs

Review: There was much online chatter when Kavinsky - real name Vincent Belorgey - recently announced the release of Reborn, his first album in nine years. He did that by sharing the video to one of the set's highlights, 'Zenith', a 'prequel' to his 2009 breakthrough single 'Nightfall' featuring vocals from the Do's Prudence and Justice collaborator Morgan Phalen. Glossy, synth-heavy, stylish and full of eyes-closes soft rock synth solos, it's representative of the Italians Do It Better style revivalist '80s synth-pop sound that marks out 'Reborn'. It's a glroiusly shiny and colourful sound, with some of the other highlights - such as the album's other single, 'Renegade' - also making use of killer electrofunk basslines and squelchy lead lines.

Review: The second album by British alt-rockers the Mysterines, Afraid of Tomorrows, is the sophomore grunge outing by the Merseyside band, formed of Lia Metcalfe, George Favager, Callum Thompson and Paul Crilly. Inspired in part by the legendary New York music and arts scene documentary film Meet Me In The Bathroom - in which legendary performances by the likes of LCD Soundsystem, The Strokes, Interpol and Yeah Yeah Yeahs feature - Afraid of Tomorrows is edgy and cuspy to match, thematically reflecting on the changing face of music and the structures that house its promotion in the modern day. Building on lead singl 'Stray' and following their debut record, the band reflect on increasingly relevant themes of anxiety and paranoia, not to mention being led astray by moments of vulnerability, which pair well with the stern and minimally driving sonics heard throughout.

Review: Kevin Parker is a real enigma of a musician. The brains behind the rightly celebrated and ever-surprising Tame Impala, he's never one for delivering quite what you expect, while still understanding that one of the most important things in music is striking a balance between the familiarity disciples need, and the expressive exploration that can prick the ears of the previously uninitiated.

Album number four, "The Slow Rush", certainly adopts a different outlook to previous undertakings. It also more than lives up to its name. It's smooth, tripped out (perhaps not so surprising on the latter front) and strikingly void of those highs that seem to offer the aural equivalent to some opiate-amphetamine blend. But we don't miss out. Instead, we're given permutations of soul, prog rock and acid house, perhaps making for the most expansive record this guy has been responsible for.

Review: Australian combo Tama Impala has always been hard to pin down, with their two studio albums to date displaying a keen desire to capture a trippy, psychedelic vibe, whilst refusing to settle on one easy-to-categorize sound. Currents, their fourth album, continues this trend, toning down some of the psychedelic rock elements in favour of nods to blue-eyed soul, woozy dream-pop, cheery summery pop (see the radio hit in waiting "The Less I Know The Better"), and even the head-nodding rhythms of hip hop (which, incidentally, prove the perfect backing for the morphine pop wooziness of "Past Life"). It's a blend that re-casts the band as baked, inter-dimensional travellers with a neat line in enveloping, sun-kissed downtempo pop.

Review: Tame Impala'a Slow Rush album is certainly deserving of this special deluxe treatment which packages the record in an "off lid" artwork box on double red vinyl. The artwork is new for this one and as well as the original tracks there are two new remix 12" featuring 'One More Year (NTS Extended Version)' and 'Patience (Maurice Fulton Remix)' as well as the original version of 'Patience' and Four Tet's take on 'Is It True' plus 'Breathe Deeper (Lil Yachty Remix)' and others. As well as all the music this version includes a deluxe booklet and the Slow Rush 2050 Calendar.

Review: Tame Impala's breakthrough album 'Lonerism' celebrates its tenth anniversary with a special edition reissue. Through tracks like 'Elephant', 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards' and 'Endors Toi', the album is known for introducing psychedelia to a new generation of hungry music fans in the early 2010s, and features Kevin Parker's distinctive falsetto vocals and intricate guitarwork throughout. The reissue here includes various bonuses, demos and "assorted sketches", casting renewed light on an important record for both the music-loving public, and an Aussie band/project destined for stardom.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Slight box damage, otherwise in perfect condition***


Tame Impala's breakthrough album 'Lonerism' celebrates its tenth anniversary with a special edition reissue. Through tracks like 'Elephant', 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards' and 'Endors Toi', the album is known for introducing psychedelia to a new generation of hungry music fans in the early 2010s, and features Kevin Parker's distinctive falsetto vocals and intricate guitarwork throughout. The reissue here includes various bonuses, demos and "assorted sketches", casting renewed light on an important record for both the music-loving public, and an Aussie band/project destined for stardom.

Review: It has been some time since we had new stuff from Kurt Vile, and in many ways what's here isn't completely fresh. Not that we're complaining. Take 'Another Good Year For the Roses', for example, featuring Stella Mozgawa and Cate Le Bon, with the latter also credited as producer. Although this is the first time we've heard it, the track has roots in 2019, when those three names, alongside Rob Laakso, Chris Cohen and Adam Langellotti, were together at Stinson Beach, California. Four years later it was finally finished and leads this selection of tunes which also includes 'Constant Repeat', a wonderful cover of Charli XCX, and the epic title piece 'Back To The Moon'. Side notes done, the package sounds like everything you've fallen in love with Vile for over the years - sharp, almost-jarringly honesty writing, beautiful instrumentation with psychedelic and beachside hues equally audible.