Album review: Friendly Fires - Pala

I actually thought Friendly fires were dead for a hot minute or two.

It's been a good four years since I'd stumbled across the awesome "Paris" and was under the spell of their brand of funk and front man Ed McFarlane's hypnotic vocals. Vocals which have such an effect on me that I'm convinced the man is a mutant whose career is managed by some bald white man who kicks it in a floating wheelchair.

In that time the group managed to prick tease with a re-release of their debut album, which came with an all new single, and then...not much else. But then. It happened. Word of the new album emerges. Friendly fires aren't dead. Rejoice! Well...either that or once again mutant powers are at play. Could Ed McFarlane have the powers of Dazzler, Vertigo and the Phoenix!? I really don't know. And I really don't care. Just as long as the good music keeps rolling in. And with Pala, it sho' as hell is.

Pala kicks off with "Live those days tonight". A rousing start to the album, ringing with the familiarity of Empire of the sun. Thumping, euphoric and funky. This song makes me wanna put on some eye liner, some glow in the dark face paint, find the most colourful jacket and the whitest boots I can find (pretty much everything which is on the floor of Ke$ha's bedroom) and just get the fuck down.

"Blue cassette" is one of the best songs on this album. Actual perfection. Completely different from anything the group have done before, yet within the Friendly fires soundscape. Featuring a percussive set of drum lines, blaring horn sections, loud synths, a disco loop which runs throughout the whole song and an overwhelming sense of euphoria. This song is destined be stuck on repeat on many a summer playlist and I have no intention of ever removing it from mine.

The funk gets dialled up some on "Running away", being one of the first songs on the album which sounds remotely like something (anything!) from Friendly fires' debut. After "Live those days tonight" and "Blue cassette" demanding that you get on your feet, "Running away" rolls in to give you a bit of breather to shuffle from side to side and give it the ol' bobble head. The ethereal bells which run throughout the song and the picked bass are almost hypnotising, and that's all before the woo man himself Ed McFarlane opens his mouth and wails distantly over the dream-like chorus.

If "Running away" was the breather, then "Hawaiian air" is the finger beckon back to the dance floor for the warm up before it all kicks off again. As with "Running away", "Hawaiian air" feels familiar; as though it could have been a song lifted from Friendly fires' first album.

After two tracks to re-assure fans of the debut that the group hadn't done a complete 180, Friendly fires hop on-board to deliver a hat trick of their new 80s style, almost R&B-ish sound. First in comes "Hurting" with a chopped up sample for an melody, funky bass and once again, Ed McFarlane drugging you with his vocals. I don't know how the man does it. Every time he sings on a song I feel like I'm high and have this desire to just throw my hands up and sway from side to side with my eyes closed. Would you ever think for a second that Friendly fires would dabble in a slow jam? Nope. Me neither. But they do it for the album title track. "Pala" is wonderfully exotic and way sexier than it has any right to be from a band like Friendly fires. The porn groove guitar licks, the birds chirping away in the background, the rolling snares and Ed McFarlane's distantly reverbed croons bring it all. But it's on the chorus where the panties drop. Another case of Friendly fires dabbling in something different, yet keeping within their soundscape and really coming up trumps. "Show me lights" is like the other half to "Blue cassette". Same vibes, but different tempo. Big, bass booming drums and snares which pierce the speakers. "Show me lights" encompasses a variety of genre's, but I hear unwavering R&B at its core. Very Shalamar and Fatpack band. Very much awesome. If somebody with an ear for pop, but generally into everything had never listened to a Friendly fires song before and they were to listen to this album, I imagine "Show me lights" would be the song they'd be drawn to.

After the lavishly over-produced and glossy "Show me lights", "True love" kicks you in the gut with some funk and a spot of stankiness. Think of it as Pala's equivalent to "Lovesick" from Friendly fires' debut, and you're part way there. But only partly. "True love" is true filth, and it's wonderful for it.

Ed McFarlane and the boys are back to their tricks of composing songs which make you feel like you're as high as a kite. At least here they're being open with their intentions this time, with a song title like "Pull me back to earth". This is a really nice little ditty of a song which fuses a bit of Stevie Wonder, a bit of Prince and a bit of jazz. It's not as hip as some of the other songs. I could definitely imagine my parents stepping to this. But it's a really nice song with a fun loving vibe.

"Live those days tonight" may be the albums opening rave number. But the tail end of the album with "Chimes" is where it's at. The mysterious vibe and tribal overtones of the music command you to lose yourself in this song. "Chimes" commands that you just relinquish yourself to the music. One of my faves on this album and a song I've stuck on repeat many a time. Those who are into the productions of Nate 'Danja' Hills and liked Duran Duran's Red carpet massacre will love this song, as it's on that whole vibe.

You would think Friendly Fires would have settled for the encore and penultimate sounding "Pull me back to Earth" to have closed the album. But instead they close Pala with "Helpless". A trippy, swoony, love song which sounds and feels entirely otherworldly. Every time I listen to this song, I feel like I should be strapped into a silver jumpsuit and be floating through the middle of some nebula. With the album opening so big and loud, it's  nice that the album closes with a song which doesn't feel so much like it ends, as it does just drift off.

Pala's sound is a heck of a lot bigger in scale than the group's debut. "Kiss of life" from the re-release of their debut was a small sign of things to come, as Pala follows in its footsteps of being very percussive, and very melodic with big hooks. Friendly fires sound much more primed for the charts with this album than they did with their debut. You could very much argue that despite the group being filed under Indie and Shoegaze that this album is very much pop, with some serious smatterings of R&B. They certainly have a greater selection of songs which could work as UK top 10 singles here than they did on their debut.

Despite Friendly fires testing a new sound with this album, it is still unmistakably a Friendly fires album. Pala has a soundscape of which many have tried on albums before, but very few have managed to nail it as well as Friendly fires have done here. Ed McFarlane's hypnotic vocals, the funk which under lies every song and the amazingly tight production from a group who are very much in control of their sound and have a clear focus of it makes for a wonderfully cohesive album from start to finish.

Pala is a great album and primed for the Summer. Fans of Friendly fires' debut will be chuffed with this. And those who have never heard any of Friendly fires' material before, will find a lot to like here. A brilliantly produced album with far more appeal than it probably realises.

RATING: 9 / 10

Album highlights:
■ Live those days tonight
■ Blue cassette ★ J's fave
■ Hurting
■ Pala
■ Show me lights
■ True love
■ Pull me back to earth
■ Chimes
■ Helpless