FANFARLO play Saturday (March 24) at the Virgin Mobile Mod Club as part of CMW. See listing. Rating: NNNN
In the lead-up to their long-delayed sophomore album, Fanfarlo frontman Simon Balthazar talked a lot about the band’s new incorporation of 80s-style electronics into their music. That seemed a tricky proposition given their debut’s bombastic orchestral baroque rock, a serious-minded aesthetic that seemed like it could sink under piles of synths and drum machines.
Instead, the new instruments are just another tool in the Anglo-Swedish indie pop band’s arsenal of strings, horns and xylophones. Fanfarlo continue to maintain a graceful Arcade Fire striving in spite of the heaps of instrumentation, deftly layering arrangements without letting them overpower. They’ve still got a way with grand, sweeping crescendos and haven’t forgotten that the build is as important as the payoff.
Top track: Replicate
