Fake Laugh’s debut double A-side "Mind Tricks" revels in a sun-drenched melancholic glow

It may seem upon first impression that London-based Fake Laugh’s debut, "Mind Tricks", is a release that is handicapped by expressing its influences a little too brazenly. Such a notion is soon repealed however as the band prove themselves far from derivative, exhibiting a sound that revels in its sun-drenched glow.

Throughout, primary songwriter Kamran Khan gives the constant air of a man unsatisfied. Whether it's his grudging advice or the empty optimism, there's a distinct sense that Khan is a man unfulfilled.

Such notions however almost lose themselves within the dense thicket of keys and guitars that embellish "Mind Tricks" with a taste so sweet it borders on the saccharine.

Fake Laugh undoubtedly have psychedelic tendencies, though they exploit them from a more inward-looking perspective, happy to bask in a hazy, hungover state as opposed to reaching for the stratospheric heights typical psychedelia often aspires to. There is no shame in being more Trust Fund than Temples, however, and certainly not when it’s done this well.

Complete with long-time collaborator Theo Verney co-producing the cut, "Mind Tricks" is a rich insight into an act who prove that exhibiting one’s influences doesn’t necessarily make one any less enthralling.

Fake Laugh plays London's Servant Jazz Quarters on 23 February.