Fanfarlo
Servant’s Jazz Quarters, London
12/07/2010

Entering the unmarked door of Dalston’s Servant’s Jazz Quarters and descending downstairs is like tumbling down a rabbit hole. In this fairy-lit basement where childrens’ animal masks stare from the walls, Fanfarlo are playing raggle-taggle indie-folk-pop that fits in perfectly with their whimsical and slightly shambolic surroundings.

It was never going to be a difficult one – this is their home turf and the crowd are all fans who pursued a place at the ‘secret’ gig – and the atmosphere of bonhomie is perfect for a band previewing unheard material. Fanfarlo clearly thrive on the relaxed atmosphere, and they have never sounded better; filling the tiny room with big sounding, big-hearted songs. They experience a couple of minor technical difficulties but what does that matter? They’re amongst friends.

Treading the right side of twee, the band flit energetically between instruments, emotions and genres with finesse, and the new songs show an experimental shift away from the familiar sounds that had them often lumped in with fellow folkies Mumford & Sons and Noah And The Whale. New one ‘Hexagons’ starts with a chugging, languid drum track that would be at home driving the dream pop of Beach House, but by the last chorus the calm is broken, the tempo changes and we’re carried along by a familiarly rousing chorus.

Not particularly revolutionary, then, but perhaps all the better for it – Fanfarlo aren’t trying to be challenging. They are as affecting as a teenage love affair, and the sorrow they convey is just as devastating.

Caroline Doyle