No band should ever be admonished for aiming big. But, doing so brings its own set of risks. ‘Let’s Go Extinct’, Fanfarlo’s third album, isn’t a huge musical undertaking in the way that Arcade Fire’s ‘Reflektor’ was, but it’s thematically ambitious to a fault.
The issue that the London alt-pop troupe have encountered is that their latest batch of songs, while perfectly pleasant and reasonably diverting, cannot quite land the melodic blows to back up Simon Balthazar’s wide-ranging, philosophical lyrical constructs.
The album, recorded between Bryn Derwen studios in north Wales and an isolated, semi-abandoned house, has a broad musical palette, with strings, triumphant horns and wistful flutes adding a variety of textures that nevertheless fail to penetrate much below the surface.
With the circularity of life itself, from its origin to its eventual end and rebirth, as Balthazar's major inspiration, Life In The Sky is a surprisingly lightweight intro, if more sprightly than much of the band’s second outing, ‘Rooms Filled With Light’, while Cell Song can’t break free of its sub-Roxy Music shackles.
Myth Of Myself, the doom-laden Painting With Life and A Distance are more successful, offering shimmering central melodies, while the title track proves to be an evocative swansong, with its restrained guitars leading into a slow-burning, delicately effective payoff that again highlights the band’s use of space both as a cue card and musical device.
Fittingly, it appears as an ending in more ways than one. "It's clear the wheels have turned," Balthazar sings. "We're standing in the way of ourselves. The world will go on without us. The dust will rearrange itself again."
‘Let’s Go Extinct’ is beautifully performed and musically literate, but just once it would have been something to have the heart outweigh the head. Fanfarlo have so much to offer, but they can’t quite knit together their competing desires here.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
