Friendly Fires: Pala

Friendly Fires - Pala

​Sometimes it can be hard to wake up in the morning. The temptations of Sleepy Carl make it so it's hard to actually get your ass up and out of bed. Every once in a while, however, waking up actually leads to something good -- something like a new album stream.

Friendly Fires' self-titled debut bowed in 2008 to much critical acclaim, bolstered by such dance-tastic singles like "Paris," "Jump in the Pool" and "Skeleton Boy" -- the latter of which has one of the coolest-looking videos I have seen in a long time. The almost-three year gap between albums has left fans of the band teeming at the bit for new material. The band played the lead single from Pala -- "Live Those Days Tonight" -- on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon back on March 23, a full two months before the album was scheduled to be released.

Pala -- much like Friendly Fires before it -- starts off with a strong four-song arc, setting a funky, dance-worthy tone for the album. As they did on their debut, the band also aims to get a few more mellow, slowed-down songs to help balance the album out. Whereas someone like me just wants Friendly Fires to go full throttle over the entire course of the album, I am still able to sit back and appreciate the overall balance -- and, thus, appeal -- of Pala. Those three years between albums were definitely worth the wait, especially if they are interrupted by lead track from Pala -- the infectious "Live Those Days Tonight."

Pala is out 5/24 in the US on Beggars, 5/16 everywhere else on XL.