Shoegaze troupe Friendly Fires have begun working on their second album, which is said to have a calypso style influence.
Friendly Fires were formed by singer Ed MacFarlane in his hometown of Saint Albans. The band began life as a thrashing indie group, before their love of early 90s dance and shoegaze music came to the fore.
Releasing their single ‘Paris’ through Moshi Moshi, Friendly Fires immediately attracted attention. However things cooled for the band, until they signed to XL Recordings – who strangely enough released a series of celebrated dance singles in the early 90s.
The band’s self titled debut album was released last year, and won extremely positive reviews. The record spawned the single ‘Jump In The Pool’ which was produced by Paul Epworth. In an interview with ClashMusic the group claimed that the relationship could continue on their new album.
Friendly Fires went on to claim that they had been working on new material, which is said to be mainly rhythm based. The band have recently been playing a number of dance anthems recently, including Olive’s hit ‘You’re Not Alone’. Friendly Fires were initially lumped in with the nu rave scene, but their debut album was much more than that demonstrating a shrewd songwriting talent that saw the band nominated for a South Bank award.
Speaking to BBC News, Ed MacFarlane claimed that the band would produce new material that was influenced by samba and calypso music. On recent tours Friendly Fires have been joined by a Brazilian style band at their live shows.
“It’s that samba, calypso vibe that’s been pushed further,” singer Ed MacFarlane told BBC News. “It’s a progression from (single) ‘Jump In The Pool’. It’s really Brazilian. There’s no 4/4 drum beats, it’s all traditional samba rhythms.”
“It’s something that we’ve been experimenting with and we really like. It’s something a bit different from just doing more traditional disco-inspired music.”
Friendly Fires are set to release their new album later this year.
