Release Date: Oct 13, 2009
Record label: Canvasback/Atlantic
Genre(s): Indie, Rock, Pop
Any big Ed Harcourt fans out there? Anyone perturbed that Ed seemed to get it devastatingly, straightforwardly RIGHT with his “indie” album, Strangers shortly before deciding no-one was listening, and pretending to retire…? Fanfarlo are similar fare, and that’s a perfectly fine thing to be. The band make pretty, guitar and organ-led indie, with discreet swirls, parps, and trills of brass and strings. In places, they bring out the wistful brass, singing saw, and woodwinds (e.g.
With summery abandon and plain-speaking folk-pop melancholy, Fanfarlo creates a debut so preoccupied with squeezing every drop of pop out of its tunes that it is difficult to imagine what a second record might involve. While Simon Aurell’s breathy swoons augment the brilliant ensemble charmingly, it is that brilliant ensemble that charms the most. If you can pluck a string, Fanfarlo can strike it with more intent.