Banfi

I’ve been a Banfi fan for a while now, with their regular EP releases over the last couple of years being a regular audio treat. So for an album to finally arrive, and to arrive on a week where the sun is shining, is perfect timining for unperfected times.

Now purely the work of Joe Banfi, ‘Colour Waits in the Dark’ arrives after years of relocation. He’s moved from North West England to South Wales via Edinburgh, Cornwall, Sheffield and 6 years in London. Now happily located on the Gower Coast, he entirely self-produced and recorded the album at home, with Two Door Cinema Club producer Eliot James being asked to mix the record.

It feels strange to be saying anything is perfect in the world right now, but ‘Colour Waits In The Dark’ is as perfect an album as these summer-feeling days of late May 2020 can hope for. Hypnotically addictive from the gently building opener ‘Watch It Fall’ all the way through to the cinematic closing refrains of album closer ’These Things We Gather’, there’s not a weak moment from start to end.

Channeling the likes of Hot Chip and Metronomy, the wonky pop hooks of tracks like ’So Bright’ and ‘Always Goodbye’ would (and hopefully still will at some point) sound life affirming when heard surrounded by thousands of people in a field somewhere in the British countryside. And that crowd will be dancing. The euphoric minimal beats of ‘In Your Arms’ and synth-pop styling of ‘Easy Now’ will be guaranteed to get pulses raised and feet moving.

Also laced with some more reflective moments like ‘Redstart’ and ’Somewhere Back There’, ‘Colour Waits In The Dark’ is a constantly engaging listen. It rewards with each repeat visits, and is the album we all need right now, offering hope and light via 30 minutes of sun-kissed indie-pop hooks.