Lapsikuninkaan fanfaari by Juho Toivonen

Released by Discreet Music in 2025. Edition of 500 copies, vinyl.

"The ever-restless Juho Toivonen returns with what is arguably his finest record yet, an impressive feat given both the quality and quantity of previous work available. Those already familiar with the young artist's output will find here many familiar tropes and approaches - tape loops, ghostly piano etudes, memory-fog drones - so what is it that makes Lapsikuninkaan Fanfaari stand out as superior? Perhaps it's confidence. The time-dilation aesthetic, and themes of memory and decay have long been a part of Toivonen's approach, but this time out they feel more tightly realised, in part attributable to the expanded sound palette (note, in particular, the presence of trumper player Ramo Sinnemäki on a couple of tracks and the more prominent inclusion of vocals) and the stereo recording, which adds a sweeping, grand quality to the overall presentation. Lapsikuninkaan Fanfaari is billed as the second part of a three-album trilogy focusing on self-mytholy, which appears to follow a solid conceptual logic - if that first record, last year's Sisarusten Toistuva Uni, was focused on birth, then this album is about becoming, Neitszche's "werde, der du bist" if you like. No more so is this obvious than on the ecstatic album centrepiece stand out, 'Rakkaus On Kaikkialla' (trans: love is everywhere), a piano-led mini-symphony underscored by a chorus of seemingly wordless vocals that ends with rapturous audience applause that impresses the same kind of spiritual release you might associate with a post-industrial Organic Music Society. It's an astonishing high point, and evidence alone of an artist with a clear understanding of their own vision. If this is Toivonen's actualising of self-potential, the third part of the trilogy can easily wait. He's already exactly where he needs to be. "

- World of Echo, London

Juho Toivonen (b. 1997) is an experimental musician from Pori, Finland, known for his minimalist and home-recorded compositions. His work has been released in multiple countries, including the United States, the UK, Sweden, and the Netherlands.