With about two and a half months left until the festival, I'm starting to listen to many of the lesser-known artists on the lineup. The goal is to get a good feel for all the bands, just so I'm not hearing the songs live for the first time. I've been slowly progressing through the bottom of the lineup, downloading albums from the artists that I've heard little of. Starting with this post, my plan is to feature a Bonnaroo artist every week up until the festival.
First up is London-based Fanfarlo. The quintet's debut, Reservoir, which was released last September, is a delightful introduction to the rich and orchestral sound Fanfarlo achieves so well. Each track features a plethora of instruments burning slowly toward a cathartic climax of soaring vocals and gorgeous instrumentation.
Many describe Fanfarlo as simply a British version of the Arcade Fire. While it's slightly unfair to label a band as a rip-off so early into its career, the label is not fully unwarranted. In some respects, Reservoir sounds like the album between Funeral and Neon Bible that Arcade Fire didn't make. It has the same grandiose and epic qualities that permeate through Arcade Fire tracks; both bands seem to be solving the world's problems one song at a time.
But on tracks like "Ghosts" and "Luna," it's hard to deny the potential of this band to achieve some great things in the near future. I'm very much looking forward to their set at Bonnaroo.
