Lately, artists and record labels have been trying out new ways to release records, eschewing the traditional release date for more creative and often riskier endeavours.

Radiohead famously employed the ‘pay-what-you-want’ system, offering its new album online for a suggested donation. Other artists have given albums away with the purchase of other merchandise, or simply put it online for download when they found out it leaked anyways. This is because CDs, in essence, are becoming more tools for promotion than any way to earn a profit. Profit comes from a variety of sources, and more often than not, selling your album isn’t one of them.
Take Sweden-via-London collective Fanfarlo for example.

The sextet, who self-manage and operate their own in-house record label, decided to pre-release their debut Reservoir with Rough Trade and online, selling it for a mere 99p for a month before its general release. In terms of promotion and awareness, the ploy was successful, as the band garnered heaps of press in prep for the actual album release at the end of September. “I guess we just want to get the album out there now,” explains principle songwriter Simon Balthazar.

“It’s always hard to sell records, and of course we haven’t made it easier for ourselves by practically giving away the record for a month, so one challenge will be just trying to make a living. Also even though we have been talking to various labels for some time, and still are, we are essentially doing all that work ourselves now. We have dates set for a self release in the UK and US which is pretty daunting.”

“So, I guess the record has already been released in various ways, but it kind of just happened that way. Basically, we had made a record, and then all of a sudden we were going on tour so we made a version we could bring on tour. Then we were approached about making a special limited edition so we did that with Rough Trade. After that, as we still didn’t have a label, we just decided to run with it and do something out of the ordinary, so we sold it for a dollar for a month. And now we have finally got round to actually putting it in the shops. So, finally, it’s going to be great to have it on CD and vinyl and see it out in the shops. And people get their music in different ways - I think a lot of the people who have the record already are people who already knew of us.”

Fanfarlo began in London, as a collection of friends loosely joined at the hip by their love of Sigur Ros. Their album cover features the sister of Jonsi from the band, and Fanfarlo itself is derived loosely from Sigur Ros, as well.

Yet, the comparisons virtually stop there. With Reservoir, Fanfarlo has an indie-pop gem on their hands, combining the grandeur of My Latest Novel and heart-breaking songwriting akin to Frightened Rabbit or even Stars. It’s emotional, wild and comforting, an album to soundtrack both a wild row and the resulting make-up intimacy. Yet, Reservoir, recorded with Peter Katis (Interpol, Frightened Rabbit) in Connecticut is more a collection of stories taken from historical figures than a break-up album, explains Balthazar. “All our songs are stories in some way or other. I guess one theme is this kind of dystopian imagery of cities full of paranoid, alienated people mistrusting each other, like a cold war-era east Berlin or such. At least this is how I think of three of the songs, ‘Fire Escape’, ‘Comets’ and ‘Luna’. Another running theme is the lone genius/lunatic stories in ‘I’m A Pilot’, ‘The Walls Are Coming Down’ and ‘Harold T. Wilkins’.

And the resulting response to Reservoir, even though it is yet to be technically released, has been a sea of high praise, with those comparing the Londoners to Arcade Fire, Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s and Girls in Hawaii. Yet, to Balthazar, the most memorable critique thus far came from a child who just discovered her new favourite band. “We got a letter written in crayon from a ten year old saying we were her first ever favourite band,” reveals Balthazar. “And it was signed ‘Lost of love’, which is probably the most adorable misspelling ever.”

And while Reservoir is an approachable debut, it is in the live arena where Fanfarlo shines. A six-piece on stage complete with mandolin and violin, Balthazar weaves his vocals through choral accompaniment and swaths of orchestral notes, recalling the romanticism of folk-pop, Baroque and cabaret. “I prefer going to shows with a blank mind and no expectations,” reveals Balthazar. “But when thinking about what we do, I guess we just try to make beautiful music. I’m not sure how else I can explain it. Still, in the studio, we were pushing ProTools pretty hard, so I can’t say I feel it’s anything like it’s been played live. But there are six of us on stage and we try our hardest to use all the ideas from the recording live. Of course some things work better in a different way live, so it’s not like we’re trying to just copy the record.”

Fanfarlo tour with Swedish teenagers First Aid Kit
throughout September. The London show is a CD release party, and takes place on 6 October 2009 at the Bush Hall.