Anathallo
Canopy Glow

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Canopy Glow’s opening salvo, “Noni’s Field,” introduces straight away the topic of death. Among lush pile-ups of Pet Sounds harmony
and Sung Tongs texture, Anathallo’s Matt Joynt and Erica Froman sing to the rafters: “We saw the sky, swarming full with the light that
the fireflies made / An accidental constellation / You, how will you go? / Out through your mouth in a sigh? / Into a space we don’t know.” It’s a surprisingly beautiful rendering of life’s most feared result: calm and considered, yet wide-eyed in approach, and colored by kaleidoscopic detail. Canopy Glow, Anathallo’s second full-length (and first for Anticon), could be described just the same. While 2006’s Floating World was a changeable work of broad swaths and Yes-influenced rock symphonics, Canopy Glow has as much energy and inspiration as it does ownership of its sound. The guitar in “Italo” approaches like a steam engine, and when Froman’s
voice rings, it’s both the melody and rhythm of the surge. Joynt’s words arrive on washes of distorted chords and percussive flourish, turning the entire song into a work of tight, interlocking harmonics. Here and elsewhere, Anathallo takes a page from The Books, but applies that duo’s micro approach to this group’s very macro ability. Texture and temperament are paramount on Canopy Glow, due in
no small part to Anathallo’s multi-instrumentalist might. “Cafetorium” channels labelmate Dosh’s skittering drum-work into a gorgeous
web of horns, vibes and guitar; “Sleeping Torpor” is a ghostly childhood reverie comprising breathy female vocals and darkly buoyant
instrumentation; and “All The First Pages” offers a lilting sing-along about the humanness behind heroes. Wherever there is playfulness on Canopy Glow, there is also profundity. In turn, Anathallo never introduces darkness without providing levity. So, though “Bells” could be a heart-crushing rumination on love undone by complete and sudden memory loss, it ends on a wistful smile. As “Tower of Babel” brings Canopy Glow to a close, the album’s collected narratives and poems proffer a single simple truth: the quality of each person’s path through life is determined by how one interprets and reacts to loss. UK tour dates : 17the Nov Borderline – London, 18th Adelphi – Hull, 19th The Regal – Oxford. Tracks : 1. Noni’s Field 2. Italo 3. Northern Lights 4. The River 5. Cafetorium 6. Sleeping Torpor 7. All the First Pages 8. John J. Audubon 9. Bells 10. Tower of Babel