Friendly Fires

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English indie rock band

title: "Friendly Fires" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["english-indie-rock-groups", "english-dance-punk-musical-groups", "british-post-punk-revival-music-groups", "musical-groups-established-in-2006", "english-musical-trios", "xl-recordings-artists", "nme-awards-winners", "british-shoegaze-musical-groups", "alternative-dance-musical-groups", "musical-groups-from-st-albans", "polydor-records-artists"] description: "English indie rock band" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_Fires" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English indie rock band ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Friendly Fires
image	Friendly Fires in 2008.jpg
origin	St Albans, Hertfordshire, England
genre
years_active
label
current_members	* Ed Macfarlane
::

::callout[type=note] the band ::

Jack Savidge
Edd Gibson

Friendly Fires are an English indie rock band from St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. They are currently signed to Polydor Records. Their self-titled debut album was released on 1 September 2008, and was announced as one of the shortlisted twelve for the 2009 Mercury Prize on 21 July 2009.

History

Friendly Fires met at St Albans School. At the age of 13, in year eight and nine (the second or third year), the members formed their first band, a post-hardcore outfit called First Day Back, covering songs by Green Day and other rock-like artists, which existed until they began university. During this time, lead singer Ed Macfarlane released his own music (under his own name) through the electronica label Skam, and Precinct Recordings. Upon leaving university, they formed a new band inspired by dance music, "lush shoegaze melodies", and classic pop songwriting. The name Friendly Fires originates from the opening track of the Section 25 LP Always Now. The band considers German techno label Kompakt, Carl Craig and Prince to be their greatest influences.

In late 2007, they became the first unsigned band to appear on Channel 4's Transmission programme. Their single "Paris" achieved "Single of the Week" in The Guardian newspaper, NME magazine, and also on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show. They have toured extensively, with past performances and festival appearances throughout the UK, Europe, Japan, the US, Canada, Mexico, South America and Australia.

''Friendly Fires'' (2008–11)

In May 2008, their song "On Board" was featured in North American television commercials for Nintendo's Wii Fit. "On Board" is also featured in the trailer for the PlayStation 3 game Gran Turismo 5. "White Diamonds" is featured in one of the episodes in the second season of the American television series Gossip Girl. "Jump in the Pool" is the theme tune to BBC One's final score for the 2009–10 football season, aired on Saturday afternoons. "In the Hospital", and "Lovesick", are featured in the Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 driving game Colin McRae: Dirt 2. "Lovesick" is played on Soccer AM as the week's football fixtures are announced.

In September 2008, they released their first LP: Friendly Fires, featuring the singles "On Board", "Paris", "Jump in the Pool", and "Skeleton Boy". The enhanced two-disc version of the album, released on 31 August 2009, included new summer single "Kiss of Life", earlier songs "Relationships" and "Bored of Each Other", other various remixes, and a DVD of their live performance of the band's at London's HMV Forum on 15 May 2009.

The album was certified double gold in the UK; the band was nominated for a Best Breakthrough Award at The South Bank Show Awards and for Best Dancefloor Filler at the NME Awards. They were also second on the bill on the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour in January and February 2009, playing alongside headliner Glasvegas and other up-and-coming bands White Lies and Florence and the Machine. In March 2009, Friendly Fires co-headlined with White Lies on an American equivalent of the tour called NME Presents, with The Soft Pack supporting.

On 21 July 2009, Friendly Fires was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. They lost to Speech Debelle's Speech Therapy.

On 19 January 2010, the band was nominated for two Brit Awards: Best British Group and British Breakthrough Act.

On 8 March 2010, Friendly Fires released a split 12" single with their New York city friends Holy Ghost!. Friendly Fires covered Holy Ghost!'s "Hold On"; Holy Ghost! covered Friendly Fires' "On Board". The 12" also included instrumental versions of both songs; the download version of the 12" included a dub version of Holy Ghost!'s "On Board".

Friendly Fires have contributed the soundtrack to the Frank Miller-directed TV advertisement for 'Guilty', a women's fragrance by Gucci. It was a cover of the Depeche Mode song "Strangelove".

On 27 September 2010, Friendly Fires released through Rough Trade Records a special compilation with London club promoters Bugged Out! called Bugged Out Presents Suck My Deck. The 19 songs included on the album were 18 songs, including remixes of songs by Phenomenal Handclap Band and Lindstrom and Christabelle handpicked by the band and "Stay Here", a collaboration between the band and Azari & III.

''Pala'' and hiatus (2011–2014)

In May 2011, their second album Pala was released. The first single was "Live Those Days Tonight", soon followed by "Hawaiian Air". On 16 August of that year, Friendly Fires announced that their trumpet player, Richard Turner, who contributed to their live shows, had died. Turner had suffered a cardiac arrest while swimming on 11 August 2011. At the end of 2011, Friendly Fires played their biggest UK tour to date, starting in Brighton on 10 November, and performing in cities, such as Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and London. An ongoing illness of singer Ed Macfarlane's caused several of these gigs to be rescheduled for December 2011.

Friendly Fires headlined the inaugural ABLE2UK charity concert for disabled awareness on 20 August 2012 at The Roundhouse in London. All proceeds from ticket sales went to ABLE2UK.

When asked in July 2012 by NME about their future direction, Macfarlane stated that the trio have no intentions of writing another pop record like Pala. They have been working with producer Andrew Weatherall and so far, they have come up with some dramatically different results to the band's usual output. Speaking to NME at Poland's Open'er Festival, Macfarlane said, "The music – the way we're writing and the style of it – is very different to anything we've done before; I think we're still learning to write music in a different way. We want to write something long and expansive and drawn-out and, I suppose, a bit more psychedelic." Macfarlane also confirmed that the tracks would definitely be released at some point, most probably under the band's name, "even if it is totally weird, psyched out, eight-minute long jams, we're still gonna call it Friendly Fires*.*"

In 2016, Ed McFarlane and Edd Gibson collaborated with Jon Brooks (The Advisory Circle) under the name The Pattern Forms and released the album Peel Away the Ivy in October 2016.

''Inflorescent'' (2018–present)

On 25 September 2017, the band announced on their Facebook page that they are returning and will be performing at O2 Academy Brixton on 5 April 2018. A 40-second clip of new music was added in a video along with the announcement. On 5 April 2018, the band released "Love Like Waves", their first release since 2012.

On 24 June 2019 the band announced their first album in eight years, Inflorescent. It was released on 16 August 2019 via Polydor Records.

In October 2022, the band announced a special one-off concert to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of their self-titled debut album, to be held in February 2023. They subsequently added an additional date, and the initial idea ended up becoming a full-scale tour, which took place from August through December 2023 in the United Kingdom. In addition to the concerts, the band also re-issued their first album on LP, together with a re-issue of the "Paris" single on a gold vinyl, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of their debut.

In January 2025, the band played at Japan's Rockin’ on Sonic festival held at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall in Chiba.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

::data[format=table] | Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | UK Peak chart positions in the United Kingdom: | UK Indie | AUS | IRE | JPN | SCO | US | US Alt | US Indie | US Rock | Friendly Fires | Pala | Inflorescent | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | 21 | 2 | 92 | 50 | 56 | 31 | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | 6 | 3 | 19 | 29 | 37 | 6 | 152 | 18 | 22 | 36 | | | | | | | | | 15 | — | — | — | — | 14 | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | "—" denotes releases that did not chart | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

DJ mix albums

::data[format=table]

Title	Details	Bugged Out! Presents Suck My Deck (Mixed by Friendly Fires)	Late Night Tales: Friendly Fires


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EPs

::data[format=table]

Track list

::

|- ! scope="row"| Cross the Line EP |

Released: 2007
Formats: CD, LP, digital download | ::data[format=table] | Track list | |---| | | ::

|- ! scope="row"| The Remix EP |

Released: 2007
Formats: CD, LP, digital download | ::data[format=table] | Track list | |---| | | ::

|- ! scope="row"| Offline EP |

Released: 22 Nov 2019
Formats: digital download | ::data[format=table] | Track list | |---| | | ::

Singles

::data[format=table] | Single | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | UK | UK Indie Peak positions for singles on the UK Indie Chart: | BEL (FL) Tip | JPN | MEX Air. | SCO Peaks in Scotland: | SWI Air | "On Board" | "Paris" | "Jump in the Pool" | "Paris" (re-release) | "Jump in the Pool" (re-release) | "Skeleton Boy" | "Kiss of Life" | "Hold On" | "Live Those Days Tonight" | "Hawaiian Air" | "Blue Cassette" | "Hurting" | "Before Your Eyes" / "Velo" (with Asphodells) | "Love Like Waves" | "Heaven Let Me In" | "Lack of Love" | "Silhouettes" | "Offline" (with Friend Within) | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 2007 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Friendly Fires (+ Deluxe) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2008 | 100 | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 105 | 13 | — | 44 | 37 | 63 | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 57 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2009 | 48 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 30 | 4 | — | — | 17 | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2010 | — | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | Friendly Fires / Holy Ghost! split 12" | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2011 | 80 | 11 | — | 40 | 33 | 84 | — | Pala | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 92 | 9 | — | — | 28 | 87 | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2012 | — | — | 31 | — | 30 | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Inflorescent | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | 87 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

Other charting songs

::data[format=table] | Song | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | UK Indie | "Bring Out Your Dead" | "Bored of Each Other" | "Relationships" | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 2007 | 41 | Cross the Line EP | | | | | | | 2009 | — | Friendly Fires (Deluxe Edition) | | | | | | | — | | | | | | | | ::

Guest appearances

::data[format=table] | Song | Year | Album | "Paris" | "Stay Here" (with Azari & III) | |---|---|---|---|---| | 2009 | Radio 1's Live Lounge – Volume 4 | | | | | 2010 | Suck My Deck | | | | ::

Notes

References

Rogers, Georgie. (5 May 2009). "Entertainment | Friendly Fires plan 'samba' album". BBC News.
(24 February 2011). "Friendly Fires add a little funk to the frenzy at Roxy". Buzzbands.la.
Drowned in Sound [http://drownedinsound.com/articles/3628885 Friendly Fires announce debut album details] {{Webarchive. link. (12 July 2008)
"News".
"St. Albans Band Friendly Fires on Later with Jools Holland". St. Albans Blog.
link. (3 April 2008)
Hampson, Simon. Fact Magazine (2006) [https://archive.today/20120801091244/http://www.factmagazine.co.uk/da/43788 Friendly Fires] (Google cache result)
T-Mobile Transmission: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3_0NtqepUU Friendly Fires – Paris]
(13 July 2009). "Hello there.". wearefriendlyfires.com.
(11 November 2009). "NME Awards Tour bands revealed". BBC.
Chang, Mary. (7 April 2009). "White Lies and Friendly Fires with the Soft Pack @ Black Cat, Washington D.C.". Popwreckoning.
Grant, Jess. (21 January 2010). "The BRIT Awards 2010 – The Nominations". There Goes the Fear.
Chang, Mary. (10 March 2010). "Friendly Fires / Holy Ghost! – 12" Split Single". Popwreckoning.
Chang, Mary. (13 August 2010). "Friendly Fires to Release Mix CD Including New Collaboration with Azari & III". Popwreckoning.
(16 August 2011). "Richard Turner 1984–2011". wearefriendlyfires.com.
(24 May 2011). "UK Tour and more". wearefriendlyfires.com.
(16 November 2011). "UK Tour Dates Rescheduled". wearefriendlyfires.com.
(2 August 2012). "Friendly Fires to Headline ABLE2UK Concert for Disabled Awareness". wearefriendlyfires.com.
(2016-10-21). "The Pattern Forms: 'Peel Away The Ivy' reviewed". We Are Cult.
(2018-04-06). "Friendly Fires have dropped their first new banger in ages, 'Love Like Waves'".
Kim, Michelle. (24 June 2019). "Friendly Fires Announce First Album in 8 Years, Share New Song: Listen".
(4 October 2022). "Friendly Fires have announced a special one-off gig to celebrate fifteen years of their self-titled debut".
(6 October 2022). "Friendly Fires have announced a second fifteenth year anniversary show".
Richards, Will. (22 May 2023). "Friendly Fires announce UK tour to mark debut album's 15th anniversary".
(1 November 2024). "Cigarettes After Sex and Friendly Fires Join the Stage for rockin' on sonic".
"australian-charts.com – Australian charts portal". Hung Medien.
"irishcharts.com – Discography Friendly Fires". Hung Medien.
"フレンドリー・ファイアーズのランキング".
"Friendly Fires Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200".
"Friendly Fires Album & Song Chart History – Top Alternative Album".
"Friendly Fires Album & Song Chart History – Independent Albums".
"Friendly Fires Album & Song Chart History – Rock Albums".
"BPI Awards – bpi". [[British Phonographic Industry]].
(24 June 2019). "FRIENDLY FIRES SHOP".
(22 March 2012). "Friendly Fires – Discover music, videos, concerts, stats, & pictures at". Last.fm.
Discogs.com: [http://www.discogs.com/release/998499 Friendly Fires – Photobooth EP]
Discogs.com: [http://www.discogs.com/release/998506 Friendly Fires – Cross The Line EP]
Discogs.com: [http://www.discogs.com/release/1186560 Friendly Fires – The Remix EP]
[https://www.discogs.com/Friendly-Fires-Offline/release/14437803 Discogs]
"Discografie Friendly Fires". [[Ultratop]].
"Friendly Fires - Artist - Billboard Japan". Billboard Japan.
"Friendly Fires – Chart History: Mexico Ingles Airplay".
"Schweizer Airplay Charts 43/2019 – hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch.
(27 November 2009). "Friendly Fires to release limited-edition single at London gig".
(17 February 2010). "Friendly Fires - Hold On (Holy Ghost! cover) and Holy Ghost! - On Board (Friendly Fires Cover) - blahblahblahscience".
(30 May 2011). "Live Those Days Tonight – Single by Friendly Fires". [[iTunes Store]].
(25 July 2011). "Hawaiian Air – Single by Friendly Fires".
(5 December 2011). "Blue Cassette (Tiga Remix) – Single by Friendly Fires".
(17 January 2013). "Friendly Fires – 'Hurting' (music video)".
(14 March 2014). "Listen to Friendly Fires' Eight-Minute-Long Comeback Single "Before Your Eyes"".
"Before Your Eyes – Friendly Fires/Asphodells - Official Charts". Official Charts Company.
(5 April 2018). "Love Like Waves – Single by Friendly Fires".
(15 October 2018). "Heaven Let Me In – Single by Friendly Fires".
(14 March 2019). "Lack of Love – Single by Friendly Fires".
Aubrey, Elizabeth. (24 June 2019). "Friendly Fires announce first album in eight years and share new single".
(22 November 2019). "Offline – EP".
"Bored of Each Other – Friendly Fires- Official Charts". Official Charts Company.
"Relationships – Friendly Fires- Official Charts". Official Charts Company.

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