Friendly Fires handle their Synth Pop/Alt Dance music with apparent ease so it’s no wonder that this debut album has been nominated for the highly coveted Mercury Prize Award. All the tracks were produced by the band themselves, except for the track Jump In The Pool which was produced by Paul Epworth. The re-release (Aug 09) is a dual CD & DVD which includes three extra tracks as well as four remixes and a reworked version of Skeleton Boy by Paul Epworth.
Jovial, playful glimpses of new wave and synthy echoing notes, mixed with an endearing male vocal does set my heart aflutter. Beautiful symphonic build-ups mix with almost hypnotic jungle beats which flow throughout the tracks. The lyrics mainly consist of uncomplicated odes of love but in the case of this album, I feel it’s more about the music and the lyrics are secondary. Although the lyrics may be mostly about love found, love lost and unrequited love, I promise you won’t get that cheesy Enrique Inglesias aftertaste.
The remix tracks still have the awesome sound but with extra xylophonic snippets, some female vocals, extra synthy goodness and of course they’ve bumped up the BPM in most instances. The addition of a female vocal in the track Paris doesn’t annoy me like most female voices in dance tracks, but the addition of the breathy, sweet and almost sultry voice gives the song a different feel. Give Skeleton Boy – Air France Remix a miss though, the original is far superior and I really don’t think it was necessary to remix it twice over.
Overall this CD is full of songs that will get you dancing, or at least nodding your head and making men and women alike become smitten with these adorable English kids. Stand out tracks: Jump In The Pool, Paris, Photobooth & Skeleton Boy.
8/10
