News

Friends: New Video and Tour Dates

• 16th May 2012

Friends unveil the video for their new single Mind Control today, exclusively on the Noisey YouTube channel.

Shot by Hiro Murai (St. Vincent, Scissor Sisters, Usher), the clip combines band performance, action footage, and special effects, in a rhythmic montage cut to the Paul Epworth mixed track. The band pay reverent homage to dystopian Sci-Fi films from the ‘80s (‘They Live,’ ‘Brainstorm,’ ‘Scanners’). But the members take themselves less seriously in various roles in an apparently sinister brainwashing plot, evocative of the song’s over-the-top lyrical message (“Hold holy only what you want/ Mind control everywhere/ Is trying to keep your brain washed”).

Mind Control is guaranteed to be unlike anything else you’ll watch this year. It’s Friends’ most ambitious video to date, following the lower-budget viral sensations for their singles Friend Crush and I’m His Girl. All three singles appear on the debut album Manifest!, out June 4th on Lucky Number — and available now to pre-order from Rough Trade (with a bonus disc), iTunes, Amazon and all retailers.

The album was produced by the band: singer Samantha Urbani, multi-instrumentalists Lesley Hann, Matthew Molnar, and Nikki Shapiro, and drummer Oliver Duncan.

Friends will follow their sold out show at London Scala and road-blocked Great Escape appearances with more UK dates in June, including Field Day and Parklife Festivals, a free Rough Trade East In-store and a very special album release show at Dingwalls.

Upcoming Live Dates:

Jun 2 – Field Day, London
Jun 2 – Dot to Dot, Bristol
Jun 3 – Dot to Dot, Nottingham
Jun 4 – Rough Trade East Instore, London
Jun 6 – Dingwalls, London
Jun 8 – The Kazimier, Liverpool
Jun 9 – Parklife Festival, Manchester
Aug 17 –Summer Sundae, Leicester
Aug 19 -– Greenman Festival, Glanusk Park
Aug 24 – Reading Festival, Reading UK
Aug 25 – Leeds Festival, Leeds UK
Sep 6 – Bestival, Robin Hill Park, Isle of Wight