New Fanfarlo Video – “Harold T. Wilkins” (Stereogum Premiere)

Dec 3rd '09 by amrit @ 11:46am 15 Comments Share

A quick listen of London-via-Sweden sextet Fanfarlo suggests they’re building from the finer stock of 2006’s crop, with surging melodramatics and instrumentation in the Arcade Fire and Beirut vein, lead vocals that are something like David Byrne via Alec Ounsworth, and as was a sign o’ those times, a David Bowie endorsement. Underneath those trappings, though, are windswept indie pop songs that have their own heart, as seen on this year’s debut LP Reservoir, an 11-song set that’s been a blogger’s delight since February and is now seeing major re-release via Atlantic. With the label upgrade comes a proper video budget, so the band mined their influences some more by enlisting past Beirut-video director Alma Har’el (of the unforgettable “Elephant Gun” clip) and traveling up to Mirror Lake near Lake Placid, NY to flesh out their ode to sc-fi writer Harold T. Wilkins. The group’s busy “telegraphing thoughts to each other and controlling each other’s movements” by dancing in the fog, which is indeed a little bit science-fiction, and a little bit third-base coach signaling for a bunt.

A few tracks for the road:

Fanfarlo – “Luna”Download

Fanfarlo – “Pilot”Download

And here’s an old video for “The Walls Are Coming Down”:

Fanfarlo’s in the States this month:
12/03 – Dallas, TX @ The Loft
12/04 – Houston, TX @ Cactus Records Instore
12/04 -Houston, TX @ Walter’s On Washington
12/06 – Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree
12/09 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
12/10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
12/11 – Arlington, VA @ IOTA Club
12/12 – Pittsburg, PA @ Brillobox
12/14 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Cafe
12/15 – Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo
12/16 – Montreal, QC @ Il Motore
12/17 – Cambridge, MA @ T.T. The Bear’s
12/18 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall