Anathallo

Expansive indie chamber pop seven-piece Anathallo was conceived in vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Matt Joynt's hometown of Mt. Pleasant, MI in the autumn of 2000. With the band's name taken from a Greek word for "blooming again", over the next six years the group was reborn several times, with seven of the members leaving the band as Joynt led the lineups through a succession of EPs. In 2006, after releasing Floating World, a conceptual album loosely based on a Japanese fairy tale, Joynt was convinced by his artist friend Tim Lowly to move to Chicago. While he and the band took residence in a church, Floating World generated enough buzz to land Anathallo a spot performing at 2007's Coachella festival. Soon after, the lineup -- consisting of Joynt, Danny Bracken (guitar/percussion/vocals), Seth Walker (bass/vocals), Jeremiah Johnson (drums/percussion/vocals), Bret Wallin (trombone/percussion/vocals), Jamie Macleod (flugelhorn/percussion/vocals), and Erica Froman (vocals/percussion/autoharp) -- quit their day jobs to pursue music full-time. Their follow-up, Canopy Glow, was completed that fall and released by Californian label Anticon, home of left of center acts Zach Hill, Restiform Bodies, Tobacco, and Alias. ~ Jason Lymangrover, All Music Guide