Fanfarlo - the beginning and the end, 2014

"There is gold beneath the ashes," sings Simon Balthazar on ‘The Beginning and the End’, the penultimate track on Fanfarlo’s excellent if flawed third album. "We have mouths to feed and Utopia to reach." These are fine, optimistic sentiments on an album that is generally thoughtful, uplifting and musically engaging, packed with deceptively complex, melodic songs that stimulate the mind and the senses alike. Yet, as indicated by its title, it’s a record that also seems sadly on the verge of giving up entirely."