Fanfarlo

Hailing from London, England, Fanfarlo surfaced in the mid- to late 2000s as an emerging indie pop outfit. The group built early visibility through successive singles, a robust online following, and dynamic concerts that carried them to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Drawing from Broken Social Scene, Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Belle & Sebastian, and Sufjan Stevens, the lineup featured Simon Balthazer on vocals, Mark West on guitar, Leon Beckenham on trumpet, Cathy Lucas on violin, Justin Finch on bass, and Amos Memon on drums. Their inaugural single, Talking Backwards, appeared in 2006 via Fortuna Pop, with subsequent releases including You Are One of the Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us/In the Trunk (2007, Fandango), Fire Escape/We Live by the Lake (2007, White Heat Records), and Harold T. Wilkins (2008, Felt Tip Records). The band issued its debut album, Reservoir, in 2009. Fanfarlo reemerged in 2012 with Rooms Filled with Light, a sophomore album steeped in synth and new wave textures that garnered widespread praise in the press. The next year brought the EP The Sea, which initiated an inquiry into human nature framed by a utopian, futuristic vision of culture and science. After that EP, the musicians returned to the studio for their third album, Let's Go Extinct, extending the thematic thread established on The Sea. During those sessions drummer Amos Memon left and was promptly succeeded by Valentina Magaletti, after which the finished album reached listeners in early 2014.