Has this once deliberately whacky indie band been groomed for pop success? You still get bouncy electro funk and high energy guitars. You also get more pop and their videos got slicker.
Over the past year, Friendly Fires have become much slicker and there’s the odd echo of Coldplay or Snow Patrol creeping in on their debut album. The new single ‘Jump In The Pool’ is a good example for the more streamlined Friendly Fires: smooth, creamy pop topped off with breathy vocals. It works quite well on the video, however, where the soft crooning is coupled with some dreamy underwater scenes. Check it out below.
Watch Friendly Fires On YouTube
You still get last year’s infectious ‘Paris’ and other high octane numbers like ‘Photobooth’ and ‘White Diamonds’. And for a good part of the album, Friendly Fires adopted a tight Electro Funk sound. There’s a whole bunch of comparisons you can make here, from contemporary Brazilian dancefloor fillers CSS to old school Heaven 17 and even a touch of Japan. Eclectic, but Friendly Fires manage to sound like themselves on my two favourites ‘Lovesick’ and ‘In The Hospital’.
Not a showstopper album at first listen, but the mix of styles works, it’s fresh and there are tunes here that add something to the 2008 pop harvest.
We say: 
Listen To ‘Friendly Fires’
Download the Friendly Fires’ debut album from iTunes UK.
