And if you happen to be in London tonight, Friendly Fires will take over Boiler Room at Corsica Studios along with Carl Craig, Paul Woolford and Axel Broman. We also hear that Carl Craig’s remix of the band’s Show Me Lights will be debuted during his set.

Stream:  Friendly Fires – Blue Cassette (Tiga Remix)

Friendly Fires frontman Ed MacFarlane

Fresh off the stages of Lollapalooza, Friendly Fires, Cults and The Naked and The Famous took New York’s famed Central Park by storm on Sunday afternoon. It was no surprise that the park’s Rumsey Playfield would reach capacity early in the afternoon with this impressive line-up, regardless of the scorching heat.

Cults and The Naked and The Famous lent excellent supporting sets before Friendly Fires incited their typical fare of furious dancing (which made security blush), stage diving and overall sweat-soaked good vibes. Check out pictures from each show along with some live video below. Full gallery can be viewed HERE.

Check out a review of the last NYC Friendly Fires gig at Webster Hall HERE, and Cults at Mercury Lounge HERE.

#1 Bjork: The second song from Björk’s cross-platform interactive album Biophilia is out. Stream Cosmogony below. [ALL NEON LIKE]
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

#2 Feist has just released the first in a series of teaser videos on on her official website. It’s a noisy instrumental track layered over a black and white time-lapse scene. If this is where she is going with her long-awaited follow up to The Reminder, then my mind is blown. Stay tuned to ListenToFeist.com for additional video updates.

#3 Friendly Fires have covered Lady Gaga’s Edge of Glory for BBC Radio 1, and it sounds fantastic. Listen below:
mp3: Friendly Fires – The Edge of Glory (Lady Gaga Cover, BBC Radio 1)

#4 Karen O. “will unveil her “psycho-opera” at St. Ann’s Warehouse in October as part of a week-long showcase of art, music, theater and film works known as the Creators Project.” [Wall Street Journal] I’m at the edge of my seat for more details!

#5 M83 (aka Anthony Gonzalez) has released the first song from his upcoming double album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (due October 18, 2011) titled Midnight City. Stream below:
Midnight City by M83

#6 No Doubt are in the studio with Major Lazer (Diplo & Switch) penning tracks for their long long awaited follow up to Rock Steady, this should be interesting…

#7 Portishead have announced an expanded US tour to supplement their ATP curated residency in New Jersey. Get your tickets for Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC, full tour dates here.

#8 Santigold and Spank Rock are the face of Alexander Wang’s Fall 2011 T Campaign. The video clip features a new mix of Santigold’s Collaboration with Karen O. Go. Santi is also featured in Beastie Boys‘ latest single Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win, and as a doll in the accompanying Spike Jonze directed video clip. I’m beside myself with anticipation for the new album!

PHEW.

After a successful gig Wednesday night, a second headlining show (in addition to their free Central Park Summerstage show on 8/7 with Cults and The Naked & Famous) was announced for October 26th at Terminal 5. Congrats on moving up to the larger venues guys, it’s been a long time coming! Check out the full gallery of Wednesday night’s show HERE and videos of Hurting and Live Those Days Tonight Below.

Setlist: Lovesick // Blue Cassette // On Board // True Love // Chimes // Skeleton Boy // Show Me Lights // Live Those Days Tonight // Hurting // Jump in the Pool // White Diamonds // Pull Me Back to Earth // Paris  Encore: Hawaiian Air // Kiss of Life

Friendly Fires – Show Me Lights

Setlist: Lovesick // Blue Cassette // On Board // True Love // Chimes // Skeleton Boy // Show Me Lights // Live Those Days Tonight // Hurting // Jump in the Pool // White Diamonds // Pull Me Back to Earth // Paris Encore: Hawaiian Air // Kiss of Life

1. Live Those Days Tonight – I will admit that I didn’t necessarily LOVE this song when I first heard it. I mean its got the makings of a great pop song but something was missing for me, and I think that piece is the rest of the album. It makes so much more sense in context as the opener of the album, especially the synth build up at the 3 minute mark.
2. Blue Cassette – I just love this song. It’s got that familiar Friendly Fires sound and rhythmic drumming but taken one step further. The looping sound effects simulating a cassette machine are a bit literal but add so much.
3. Running Away – This is an interesting sound for the band. I love all the layers in this track most notably with new vocal stylings/pitches. I predict some great remixes coming out of this one.
4. Hawaiian Air – Trailing off from the last song, Hawaiian Air (second single from Pala) pushes the band into new territory to an all out summer rave. I can just picture kids losing their minds to this track at an outdoor festival in the sun. I want to be there now!
5. Hurting – Wow! Such a fun, funky and busy dance track with The Harlem Gospel Choir credited as musical collaborators. I will be extremely sad if this is not a single! Flawless.
6. Pala – This is Edd’s first attempt at a slow-burning R&B crooner track, and he totally nailed it! This is a baby boomer!
7. Show Me Lights – This one reminds me of the “Boy Band era” at it’s peak and most experimental. I can’t wait to see how this plays out live.
8. True Love – The Fires take another stab at funk sprinkled over their signature sound. I would have loved for more lyrical verses over repetition, but the housey piano break does a good job of breaking that up.
9. Pull Me Back to Earth – The guitar picking over the big sound and Edd’s smooth vocals create both grounding and uplifting vibes, if that makes sense.
10. Chimes – I like this but I don’t love it. Chimes complements the rest of Pala but doesn’t stand on itself for me. Do take note of the fantastic lyrics though!
11. Helpless – This a solid album closer, do let the entire track play out and help me figure out what that is all about.

Verdict – A

The Fires are also on the cover of the latest issue of NME in which Edd MacFarlane was quoted as saying that he was happy to alienate himself from the world of indie and “I’d much rather listen to a Justin Timberlake record than a Morrissey record with clever lyrics and tried and tested guitar tunes.”

Friendly Fires play a sold out gig on May 25th, one day after Pala spreads it’s wings! Pre-order the album HERE.

Fresh off of a slew of gigs at SXSW, the trio will be performing the first single from Pala titled Live Those Days tomorrow night, Wednesday March 22nd on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The song will be premiered today on Zane Lowe and streamed on their website prior to the performance tomorrow night.

Via an XL Recordings press release:

The artwork for Pala will feature a beautiful photograph of a parrot from a personal project of famed fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø while the album also sees musical collaborations with The Harlem Gospel Choir (on ‘Hurting’) and Holy Ghost’s Alex Frankel (who plays Clavinet on ‘True Love’)

Upcoming Friendly Fire tour dates can be seen HERE.

mp3: Friendly Fires – Relationships

Friendly Fires 2011 Debut at Bowery Ballroom!

Last night New York City welcomed the long awaited return of St. Albans’ Friendly Fires. The show marked the band’s very first gig of 2011 in which they shared songs from their upcoming album Pala (release date TBA) for the very first time! Three years ago I saw the nearly unknown Friendly Fires for the first time at Bowery Ballroom during CMJ and have closely followed their every move leading up to last night’s brilliant show at the same venue.

The Hundred in The Hands

After a fantastic opening set from New York’s The Hundred in the Hands (one of my favorite live acts of 2010), my many overhearings at the venue clued me in that they’ve made many new fans. Unfortunately THIH will not join the Fires for the remainder of their tour but have announced a European tour kicking off in London on February 25th, full dates here.

Stream: The Hundred In The Hands – Pigeons (Foals XIII Remix)

Stream: Friendly Fires – Photobooth