Fiction Family
The fact that Hear Music, the label which keeps the front counters at Starbucks littered with CDs, was the initial home to this debut collaboration signals what’s in store: sunny folk-pop that goes well with caffeine and the Sunday paper.
But Jon Foreman and Sean Watkins demonstrate deeper into this album that they have far adventuresome intentions. Though they’re best known for their tenures in Switchfoot and Nickel Creek, respectively, the songs on this collection do not play to expectations. The obvious touchstone is Lennon/McCartney, and like that vaulted pair, Foreman and Watkins shift from instantly likable to darkly provocative. They are savvy enough to know when to grind melodies into the blender so that they pour richer, and the duo’s studio finesse makes even the most conventional songs sound like exotic creations.
Foreman and Watkins alternate vocals and at times tightly harmonize, producing crisp chamber pop on “Elements Combined” and “When She’s Near”. The similarity of their voices holds them back from establishing a musical dialogue; instead, they both sing subdued, and the hangdog charm of their vocals fits the romantic yearning that dominates the songs.
But like most expert pop ventures, things are not always what they seem. Fiction Family stands out by pushing boundaries, as with the melancholia of Abbey Lincoln’s “Throw It Away” and the heavenly states of “Closer Than You Think” (“Nothing on this earth is as good as what’s up there”). On “Please Don’t Call It Love” Sean’s sister (and former Nickel Creek bandmate) Sara Watkins weaves a fiddle around minor keys in baroque fashion until a burst of electro-noise floods the song so it promptly drowns. Despite the smiles that drive these melodies forward, there is anger and sadness that keeps them raw.