When Fanfarlo released its new single in September, fans expected the same epic, uplifting indie rock found throughout Reservoir, its 2009 debut.
But they didn’t get it. Instead, they got the band’s newest track, “Replicate,” a dark, tense song that retains the sweeping violins from the band’s debut but almost entirely abandons percussion.
“Replicate” will not be unique among Fanfarlo’s new music in its experimentation and heavier, darker mood. Lead singer Simon Balthazar and multi-instrumentalist Cathy Lucas said the band’s next album, Rooms Filled with Light, will have a consistently different tone and feeling than Reservoir.
“There’s quite a big change in sound for us,” Balthazar said. “I think we really wanted to experiment with a different palette.”
The band, which will be performing at the Red Palace in Washington on Saturday, had no reservations about releasing “Replicate” as its first single, since it views the song as a solid preview of what’s to come.
The single “really represents where we were going and what we’re doing right now,” Lucas said. “In terms of sound, the idea and feeling, it felt right.”
Balthazar said experimentation with old ’80s keyboards provided an inspiration for some of the new sounds on the album, which will be released on Feb. 18, although the orchestration of Reservoir will remain.
“If anything, we’re using more violins now; we’re still using quite a lot of trumpet and saxophone and clarinet,” he said of the new album. “But the sounds we’re using are a lot darker.”
“We’re using mostly the same instruments,” Lucas added, “but just playing them in new ways.”
Although Rooms Filled with Light will not be a concept album, there will be a theme running throughout, both in the music and in the visual products the band creates.
“Something that’s just really captured our imagination has been playing with light, and the relationship between light and room, so that’s what we’ve been playing a lot with when we’ve been getting artwork and videos together,” Balthazar said. “The basic concept of filling a room with light is just an interesting fundamental concept.”
Lucas said the band has been working with visual artist Calvin Frederick, who will be accompanying Fanfarlo on tour to control “huge light boxes” that he created.
“When we play music live, it’s very much something we do — we create an artificial world with light,” he said.
The five-person band has begun a small, five-stop tour of the U.S. Then the band members will head to Spain for most of November, and, beginning in March, will embark on a larger U.S. tour to promote the new album.
“We love traveling in the U.S.,” Balthazar said. “We’ve done a lot if it, so it’s a good thing that we like it.”
On this fall tour, Fanfarlo will be playing its entire new album in concert. Balthazar said performing the new songs live is the most exciting part of releasing an album.
“It’s the birth of something new,” he said. “The beginnings are the best part of life.”
Fanfarlo will play at the Red Palace in Washington on Saturday night at 9 p.m. Tickets are $15.
