Friendly Fires

From First Day Back to Pala

Ed Macfarlane, Edd Gibson and Jack Savidge met at St Albans School and at 13 formed a post-hardcore band, First Day Back, covering Green Day and similar. The name Friendly Fires came from the opening track of Section 25's album Always Now; they cite Kompakt, Carl Craig and Prince as influences. Their Photobooth EP came in 2006, and Cross the Line and The Remix EP in 2007. In late 2007 they were the first unsigned band on Channel 4's Transmission, and "Paris" was single of the week in the Guardian and NME.

Their debut album Friendly Fires (September 1, 2008, XL) was produced by Macfarlane on every track but "Jump in the Pool", which Paul Epworth produced. A deluxe re-release on August 31, 2009 added "Kiss of Life" and a DVD of their Forum show in London on May 15, 2009. It reached 21 in the UK and 2 on the indie chart, went Gold, has a Metacritic score of 75, and was shortlisted for the 2009 Mercury Prize, won by Speech Debelle; they were nominated for two Brit Awards. In a Clash interview in July 2009, Macfarlane said the debut was their first time producing and that he now finds "Photobooth" robotic and rigid. In March 2010 they made a split 12-inch with Holy Ghost!, each covering the other. Pala (May 16, 2011) was produced by the band, Epworth and Chris Zane and reached 6 in the UK. The trumpet player Richard Turner died on August 11, 2011.

A Late Night Tales mix followed in November 2012, and in 2012 they worked with Andrew Weatherall. After a five-year hiatus they returned in 2017, played the O2 Academy Brixton on April 5, 2018 and made Inflorescent (August 16, 2019, Polydor), which reached 15. In 2023 a one-off 15th-anniversary show became a UK tour, and the debut was reissued on vinyl. A new album, Dig Deeper, is announced for January 15, 2027 on LAB Records, with the single "Magnetic".