More Interviews...
Features...
Reviews...

Looking back to 2003, Funeral for a Friend's first full-length studio album 'Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation' had just been released and the boys received their first taste of success. The album rewarded them with three top twenty singles in 'Juneau' 'She Drove Me to Daytime Television' and 'Escape Artists Never Die. Now this was something they'd never expected. Surely, they couldn't ever top this? Enter 'Hours', the 2005 follow up. Things just kept getting better and better. Their UK fans were getting more and more hardcore, and they were able to cross the pond to Japan, amazed at the reception their music was receiving - avid fans, screaming back the lyrics, whilst they spoke little more than basic English. The leap in popularity between 2003 and 2005 was staggering, could they possibly experience this again with their next release? It didn't seem so..

2007 was not Funeral for a Friend's best year. May saw the anticipated release of 'Tales Don't Tell Themselves' and the band tried a slightly different, more ambitious approach, taking upon the challenge of producing a more conceptual record. The first single 'Into Oblivion (Reunion)' stormed the UK Official chart, reaching number 16 however, it was the fan's reactions that mattered most and overall, they were disappointed with the album itself. Complaints were that this was not the Funeral they knew, but, on their latest release, the band were determined to take the power back.

Mid-2008 saw Funeral bid farewell to their previous label Atlantic as they decided to go it alone with their independent and aptly-named label Join Us. This ambitious move was the beginning of the beginning, and shortly after their first new single 'Waterfront Danceclub' was launched. It was almost as if 'Tales Don't Tell Themselves' had never existed. They were back on top of their game. Almost.

The new album 'Memory and Humanity' storms open in pretty much the same way as 'Casually Dressed…'; powerful drums and screaming riffs which attack the senses and just make you want to lose it. The first track, 'Rules and Game' sets the tone for the rest of the album, and it is clear that this is no follow up. It's a class all of its own. One can almost feel nostalgia for the past albums gone, it is evident that the boys have re-discovered their roots and taken it all the way back to basics … back to the sound that made us all fall in love to start with. There are hardcore tracks, there are sing-a-long tracks, and there are the tracks that touch you and reach you in a way that you could never imagine from this post-hardcore five piece. But we're learning that with these guys, what you see is not always what you get. We get so much more.