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Funeral for a Friend to release new single and 'greatest hits', September 2009

Posted: 14 years ago

Welsh rock legends Funeral For A Friend launch the next stage of their illustrious career with the 'Wrench' single on Sept 14 2009. With an infectious energy, driving heaviness and a chorus more contagious than the common cold, it's a short, sharp reminder of just how fantastic this band are!

'Wrench' is one of four brand new tracks featured on the band's forthcoming career retrospective 'Your History Is Mine: 2002-2009'. This sixteen track long player covers the quintets output from the early days of the bands formation in South Wales right through to gold albums, multiple worldwide headline tours and appearances at every festival that matters. It will be released on Atlantic Records on Sept 28.

As well as the twelve smash hits from FFAF's previous four albums featured, the release will include an EP's worth of new material, notable for being the first involving Gavin Burrough (bass) fully in the writing and recording process. 'It's made a huge difference having [Gav] come into the band as a fan, and almost like a spokesman for all the fans out there who've been wanting to hear elements of the band they fell in love with that maybe have been missing for a while,' says drummer/vocalist Ryan Richards. 'We've always said we never wanted to go backwards, but now we've been able to re-explore a lot of the old elements of what we did and make it sound brand new by having Gav's musical and vocal input in there. It's very exciting - for us and for the fans, especially the ones that have been there from the start.'

'It's been hard,' adds vocalist Matthew Davies, 'whittling down the best of four albums and a bunch of EP's to come up with what we consider to be the best of our 'formative years'. We're still trying to rewrite the rock and roll music text book with everything we've done since then. It's been interesting to see just how many songs we've written that have affected both us and our audience over the last 7 and a half years and having them all in one place will be a good reflection of our music up to this point for newcomers and for old friends.'

A quick scan through the tracklisting for the record confirms that picking songs for inclusion has been no easy task. But moreso it also reaffirms the weighty contribution the band has made to the post-millennial British rock scene. Classic fan favourite tracks like '10.45 Amsterdam Conversations' and 'Red Is The New Black' sit comfortably both alongside the anthemic 'Juneau' and the awe-inspiring 'Roses For The Dead' as well as firm live favourites 'Streetcar' and 'Into Oblivion'. It really is a 'Greatest Hits' in the true sense of the word.

'I like to think of the record as the end of one road and the start of another,' continues Richards. 'We wanted to document the history of the band up until now but at the same time usher in a New Age of Aural Awesomeness - or NAAA to the abbreviators out there who've come to know and love us as the FFAF.'

Your History is Mine - Tracklisting

  1. 10.45 Amsterdam Conversations
  2. This Year's Most Open Heartbreak
  3. Juneau
  4. She Drove Me To Daytime Television
  5. Escape Artists Never Die
  6. Red Is The New Black
  7. Streetcar
  8. Roses For The Dead
  9. History
  10. Into Oblivion (Reunion)
  11. Walk Away
  12. Kicking And Screaming
  13. No Honour Among Thieves
  14. Built To Last
  15. Wrench
  16. Captains Of Industry