Indie sensations Friendly Fires have been talking about their chances at this year’s Mercury Music Prize, and admit that they are only there for the food.
Hailing from the leafy English town of St. Albans, Friendly Fires’ success has been far from overnight. Early shows saw them lumped in with the nu rave style, but there was always more to the group than that.
Early singles such as ‘Paris’ saw them gain huge plaudits, blending shoegaze guitars with pop melody. Signing to XL Recordings Friendly Fires began piecing together their debut album, which was released last year.
Self-titled, it marked the true arrival of a great pop talent. With singles such as ‘Jump In The Pool’ Friendly Fires seem to have the potential to fill stadiums, while still retaining their indie credibility.
Recent single ‘Kiss Of Life’ was a case in point. Pop-tastic, it stormed the charts but rode over some samba style drumming which Friendly Fires picked up while touring South America recently.
The band were surprised when the Mercury Music Prize nominations were announced. Named among a list of the year’s best albums, Friendly Fires rub shoulders with The Horrors, Florence And The Machine and more.
Speaking to BBC Newsbeat singer Ed MacFarlance admitted the band were only in it for the food.
“I’m quite excited (about the ceremony),” he said. “I’m looking forward to having a nice meal because I haven’t had a nice meal in ages – it’ll be good to have a proper cooked meal.”
Friendly Fires were set to play a homecoming show in St. Albans last night (September 3rd). Guitarist Ed Gibson claimed he was nervous saying: “It will be odd seeing so many faces you actually recognise in a crowd. That’ll make me more nervous than usual to be honest.”
