UK three-piece Friendly Fires are set to release the follow up to their cowbell-heavy dancefloor-ready debut on May 24 but in the meantime it is available to stream in full (below). The new album is entitled Pala, named after the titular land mass in the Aldous Huxley novel Island – a fictional utopia where the best parts of Western and Eastern culture are joined together and the inhabitants trip on magic mushrooms to gain cosmological insight. That doesn’t necessarily give you a great idea of the contents of this record though.
Recorded with legend Brit producer Paul Epworth there’s still plenty of the hip-shaking white boy anthems that endeared the band to so many in their debut: driving percussion and lifting choruses abound in single “Hawaiian Air”, while “Hurting” has a late ’70s synth-y disco vibe, and then there’s slower spacious R&B moments (“Pala”, “Show Me Lights”).
Friendly Fires play Splendour In The Grass.
