Anathallo

Formed in autumn 2000 inside vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Matt Joynt’s native Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, the seven-piece indie chamber pop outfit Anathallo adopted a name derived from a Greek term meaning “blooming again.” Across the following six years the ensemble underwent repeated reinvention, losing seven members while Joynt steered successive lineups through a string of EPs. After issuing the conceptual album Floating World in 2006—an effort loosely inspired by a Japanese fairy tale—artist acquaintance Tim Lowly urged Joynt to relocate to Chicago. Once the group had settled inside a church, the record attracted enough attention to earn Anathallo a slot at the 2007 Coachella festival. Not long afterward the complete roster—Joynt together with Danny Bracken (guitar/percussion/vocals), Seth Walker (bass/vocals), Jeremiah Johnson (drums/percussion/vocals), Bret Wallin (trombone/percussion/vocals), Jamie Macleod (flugelhorn/percussion/vocals), and Erica Froman (vocals/percussion/autoharp)—left day jobs behind to focus on music exclusively. Finished that same fall, their next album Canopy Glow emerged on the Californian imprint Anticon, also home to left-of-center acts Zach Hill, Restiform Bodies, Tobacco, and Alias.