Single: Fanfarlo – The Walls are Coming Down

Fanfarlo’s newest single, from the magnificent album Reservoir, might have something rather pertinent to say to our suited and booted friends in the city:

“They swallowed it whole, they went for the gold, for the gold
We fall for the same lies we all have the same shoes to fit
The preachers and books of your empire will fight here alone
Some day the will be forgotten and die one by one”

That’s one to mull over, I’d say.  Simon Balthazar tells us in his gentle, lilting tones, that “there is nothing left to do” over a musical base which, conversely, communicates only beauty and hope.  Heaven knows we all need a bit of that sort of thing from time to time.

Most pleasingly, these folks know what to do with a trumpet, which is more than can be said for some, and the arrangement on this single is stunning – orchestral and complex yet utterly accessible, with the tinkle of a glockenspiel welcoming all and sundry to the fold.

‘The Walls are Coming Down’ will be released on 21st September.  Watch the frankly astounding video here.

Words: Helen True

Like the sound of that?  Fanfarlo are doing us all a favour and touring, so that we can have the chance to hear their sounds as they should be: all lovely and live:

28th September – Manchester, Deaf Institute
29th September – York, Fibbers
30th September – Glasgow, ABC 2

2nd October – Middlesbrough, Westgarth
3rd October – Nottingham, Bodega
5th October – Oxford, Jericho Tavern
6th October – London, Bush Hall
7th October – Brighton, Hanbury Ballroom
8th October – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor bach
9th October – Leeds, Brundenell Social Club