The lyrics are out of Order
Posted February 04, 2009
By Nathan,
If the career of Jon Forman has taught us anything it’s that he is multitalented and is no stranger to doing something new. However to focus purely on Forman on his latest enterprise would be a unfair considering that the duo, called Fiction Family, is actually a duo with Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek. The self titled debut album is product of work that has been long in the making for these considerably talented musicians.
The work of Fiction Family doesn’t stray far from Forman’s solo acoustic pop acts but is more diverse and upbeat than Forman’s folk music. The opener, “When she’s near”, gives listeners a good dose of guitar driven pop folk sound while blending both Forman and Watkins’ vocals well. However that sound, particularly the duet, doesn’t show up again on Fiction Family except for some spread out bits and pieces. Instead listeners are exposed to a good amount of moody guitar ballads like “betrayal” and “mostly prove me wrong”.
It’s clear that going into Fiction Family some might undervalue Watkins role but those who hear the southern sounding “not sure” will be impressed with his ability to lead a song. But the show is seemingly stolen by Forman who sings on most of the songs which is unfortunate because Watkins rare opportunities to sing solo (“elements”) are very good.
With both band members having a vast familiarity with many instruments intricate songs like the soft upbeat pop tune “Out of order” and the light southern “closer than you think” are sunny spots on the album. What’s not so sunny is the album’s interludes that occasionally pop up on the end of some tracks; the result is distracting, unnecessary and usually not very complex. Also in the midst of the folk tracks and acoustic ballads are some dry songs like “War in my blood” and “please don’t call it love”.
Watkins’ description of Fiction Family doesn’t include any mention of God so it’s unlikely that spiritual references will show up. And they don’t’, with the exception of “closer than you think” which is a glimpse toward (‘the sky is much more blue/and the clouds are always white/the streets of course are gold). But mainly Fiction Family deals with relationship songs which are pretty pointless though some reflect good songwriting like “not sure” and “betrayal” where the strong spot is really an astute observation rather than good girl guy cliché advice (‘Someone always wins/And then they write a book/I sing my defense/Fingering a different crook’).
I would more than happily stop the review right here and call it a very solid debut album with a few flaws. However when considering the other lyrics there do appear to be significant dent in Fiction Family other than their spiritually lacking messages. “Closer than you think” message gets a little marred (‘never mind your sister/when she asks you silly questions/about all the broken people left unfed /the burning questions are better left for dead’), and “mostly prove me wrong” is a dark song which offers no gives no for life (‘It's like I don't belong/No point in going on/Yeah come on prove me wrong’).
The obsession with trivial matters and the consuming signals that the thoughtful songs sent really hinder any messages that Fiction Family send. The duo of Jon Forman and Sean Watkins is impressive and the music that they have concocted will more than satisfy those who like Forman’s EPs but the significantly watered down lyrics is a far cry from Forman’s seasonal EPs.
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