Sep 27, 2019 By Mark Redfern

Under the Radar is excited to announce the My Favorite Album Issue, our new print issue in which we speak to musicians and actors about their all-time favorite album. The issue features Angel Olsen and Sleater-Kinney on the two covers and is available to buy directly from us here, as well as being distributed in stores nationwide (on newsstands, in such stores as Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million, and elsewhere). More

Aug 16, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

Sleater-Kinney have released a new album, The Center Won’t Hold, today via Mom + Pop and it’s our Album of the Week. Find more info on the album below. Below that are streams of other notable albums released today: Amason, Blanck Mass, Friendly Fires, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Hold Steady, Oso Oso, Ride, and Shura. More

Aug 16, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

British dance-rock trio Friendly Fires have released a new album, Inflorescent, today via Casablanca/Polydor. Now that the album is out, you can stream the whole thing here. More

Jul 26, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

Welcome to another Songs of the Week. It was another strong week for new tracks. There are some repeat offenders (artists who have had previous Songs of the Week in recent months), some newbies, and a surprising collaboration. More

Jul 25, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

Friendly Fires are releasing a new album, Inflorescent, on August 16 via Casablanca/Polydor. Now they have shared another song from it, “Run the Wild Flowers.” More

Jun 28, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

Welcome to another Songs of the Week. The Top 2 are by the same artist, which rarely happens, if ever. This week was a challenge, as there were less immediately obvious tracks to make the Top 10, but then we dug deep and ended up with too many tracks (there are an additional 10 honorable mentions). So there are lots and lots of songs to listen to below. More

Jun 24, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

Friendly Fires have announced a new album, Inflorescent, and shared a new song from it, “Silhouettes.” More

Nov 21, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

Friendly Fires have shared a video for “Heaven Let Me In,” a single they released last month that was one of our Songs of the Week. BISON directed the video, which stars British actor Jeremy Irvine, who made his movie-acting debut starring in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse and has since appeared in The Railway Man, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and others. More

Oct 19, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

An artist whose last song also made it to #1 on that week’s list and an anti-Donald Trump protest song scheduled to be covered by many more artists head this week’s Songs of the Week list. Plus Thom Yorkemakes the list yet again. More

Oct 15, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

It’s been seven long years since Pala, the sophomore album by London dance-rock trio Friendly Fires, but back in April they returned with a brand new single, “Love Like Waves” (which was one of our Songs of the Week), which was followed by a video for the song in May. More

May 30, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

It’s been seven long years since Pala, the sophomore album by London dance-rock trio Friendly Fires, but last month returned with a brand new single, “Love Like Waves,” which was one of our Songs of the Week. More

Apr 06, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

Songs of the Week is fairly easy to put together, there are obviously standout tracks and it’s just a case of working out the order. Other weeks there are few great tracks and it’s a real struggle. This week there was an obvious #1 in Beach House and then there were so, so many other tracks to decide between to come up with a Top 10. More

Apr 06, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

It’s been seven long years since Pala, the sophomore album by London dance-rock trio Friendly Fires, but now they have returned with a brand new single, “Love Like Waves,” and it’s a whole lot of danceable fun. More

Sep 14, 2012 By Mike Hilleary

Following previous installments by Metronomy, Belle and Sebastian, MGMT, Trentemøller, Air, The Flaming Lips, and many others, Friendly Fires have announced that they have curated the next album in the ongoing Late Night Tales series. More

Nov 10, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Check out the video for “Hurting” a cut from Friendly Fires’ sophomore album Pala. More

Nov 05, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Take a listen to the Tiga Remix of Friendly Fires’ track, “Blue Cassette” (from this year’s album Pala). The track debuted tonight on Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 show and we have the stream. More

Sep 15, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Today, Friendly Fires’ “Hurting” (from this year’s Pala) got the remix treatment. We have the new track. More

Aug 19, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Sad news today from Friendly Fires’ camp. The band’s trumpet player Richard Turner—who had been performing with the band live for three years, died suddenly at the age of 27. More

Jul 28, 2011 By Mark Redfern and Laura Studarus

Under the Radar’s Summer 2011 Issue has just hit stands. It features St. Vincent on the cover and includes articles on M83, Bon Iver vs. Fugazi, The Horrors, Washed Out, Stephen Malkmus vs. Gus Van Sant, WU LYF, Dum Dum Girls, Friendly Fires, Memory Tapes, John Maus, Niki & The Dove, Purity Ring, Youth Lagoon, and many others; as well as over 115 reviews. The digital version of the magazine also includes 50 extra pages of bonus content, including articles on My Morning Jacket, The Rapture, Eleanor Friedberger, Handsome Furs, Moonface, Stephin Merritt, Laurel Halo, and more. More

Jul 26, 2011 By Margot Cooper Gruen

Today, Treasure Island Music Festival announced their 2011 lineup. More

Jun 16, 2011 By Margot Cooper Gruen

Dance band Friendly Fires have released a video for their second single from their sophomore album Pala, “Hawaiian Air.” The band is aboard a flight to Hawaii and deal with the nuisances of flying. More

Jun 16, 2011 By Margot Cooper Gruen

On Friday, June 10, 2011, Friendly Fires performed at The Music Box at Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, CA. More

May 06, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Friendly Fires want to give you your summer jam. The UK dance rock trio is giving away Pala single “Blue Cassette” via The Hype Machine. More

Mar 24, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Friendly Fires hit the stage at Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night to premiere new single “Live Those Days Tonight,” a track from forthcoming album Pala (out May 24). We have the video. More

Mar 22, 2011 By Mike Hilleary

London trio Friendly Fires have announced the upcoming release of Pala, the follow-up to their successful self-titled album, for May 24. More

Mar 07, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Dance rock aficionados Friendly Fires are heading to the U.S. In addition to a tour and several gigs at SXSW, the band will be curating a showcase. We have the details. More

Jan 18, 2011 By Mark Redfern

British electro-rock trio Friendly Fires (or “dance punk” as Wikipedia describes them) have announced a full U.S. tour to go down in May and June. They will also be playing previously announced dates in NYC and LA in February and will be hitting SXSW in March. Based on previous shows, expect plenty of dance moves from frontman Ed Macfarlane and lots of cowbell. More

Dec 08, 2010 By Laura Studarus

British dance-rockers Friendly Fires are heading back to the U.S. after a 14-month touring break. We have the info. More

Sep 08, 2009 By Mark Redfern

Speech Debelle has won this year’s Mercury Prize, it was just announced at a ceremony in London. The British rapper was something of a surprise winner and beat out the likes of The Horrors, Friendly Fires, Bat For Lashes, The Invisible, Florence and the Machine, Kasabian, Glasvegas, and others. Debelle took the stage and immediately gave a shout out to one of her fellow nominees. “Big up The Invisible,” she said. Debelle had told BBC 6 Music radio earlier in the evenining that The Invisible were her favorite other nominee. Ironically, despite her name, Speech Debelle gave a short speech. She thanked her label, producers, and family (“my gran’s over there”).The winner is awarded 20,000 pounds and Debelle also said, “Thank-you to whoever’s name is on the check.” More

Aug 25, 2009 By Wendy Lynch Redfern

Friendly Fires played a sold-out show at The El Rey in Los Angeles, CA Monday night. We sent a photographer Wendy Lynch Redfern down to capture the action. Check out the full gallery of photos from The El Rey show here. More

Jul 21, 2009 By Mark Redfern

Every year since 1992 The Mercury Prize has been awarded to the best album recorded by an artist from either the United Kingdom or Ireland. Last year Elbow won it. This morning 2009’s nominees were announced. They include Bat For Lashes, Florence and the Machine, Friendly Fires, The Invisible, Glasvegas, The Horrors, Kasabian, and others. More

Apr 23, 2009 By Mark Redfern

On day three of Coachella My Bloody Valentine threatened to burst a thousand eardrums. As we entered the festival site around 12:30 PM they were handing out complimentary earplugs in anticipation for the aural attack. Other highlights included a blood-splattered Fucked Up, an energetic Friendly Fires, and the incredibly strange Throbbing Gristle. More

Apr 16, 2009 By Mark Redfern

We have posted to our website select previous Under the Radar interviews with some of the great artists playing the Coachella festival this weekend. If you’re heading out to the festival, then check out these interviews at the links below to either give you a primer on an unfamiliar artist or remind you why they are one of your favorites whose set you will definitely be catching. Even if you’re not hitting the desert festival, this is a great collection of back issue content newly posted to the site. More

Apr 14, 2009 By Michele Yamamoto

The set times for Coachella have finally been posted to the festival website. With a nerve-shattering 3 days to go, festival goers can finally agonize over conflicts, geography and meal times. More

Feb 01, 2008 By J. Pace

Friendly Fires, hailing from St. Albans, England, burst on the scene with a rousing, danceable cover of Jamie Principle’s infamous house cut “Your Love,” a far cry from their beginnings as a hardcore band. More

Jun 21, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Seeing Friendly Fires live is a bit like stepping into a disco ball. Audibly at least. The sound swirls around you, tightly wound verses exploding into lush, melodic choruses. Look closely—you can see the sparkles in the air. More

May 26, 2011 By Laura Studarus

After being nominated for a Mercury Prize, why not give your fans more of what they want? At least that seems to be Friendly Fires’ theory. For their sophomore outing the band raised their glow sticks toward the heavens and continued on, crafting the same rave pop that made their self-titled debut such a buzzy pleasure. More

Aug 25, 2009 By Laura Studarus

I don’t dance. I’m an arrhythmic white girl whose main goal—at most events—is to not put an eye out with my pen or notebook. Although, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to getting my (very) awkward groove on at last night’s Friendly Fires show. For the record: no writing utensil related injuries were sustained. More

Apr 23, 2009 By Mark Redfern

On day three of Coachella My Bloody Valentine threatened to burst a thousand eardrums. As we entered the festival site around 12:30 PM they were handing out complimentary earplugs in anticipation for the aural attack. Other highlights included a blood-splattered Fucked Up, an energetic Friendly Fires, and the incredibly strange Throbbing Gristle. More

Apr 15, 2009 By Paul Bullock

Friendly Fires, of St. Albans, U.K., is still riding high on their self-titled debut. The album, released in the fall of 2008, showcases confident, kinetic songwriting that matches their growing reputation for high-octane performances. Frontman Ed Macfarlane’s winking histrionic delivery plays nearly perfectly against the tight, road-honed sounds of Jack Savidge (drums), Edd Gibson (guitar), and Rob Lee (bass) making for a kind of smart, indie-rock response to Duran Duran. More