Pala (album)

Pala
Studio album by Friendly Fires
Released	16 May 2011
Genre	Alternative dance funk[1]
Label	XL
Producer	Friendly Fires Paul Epworth Chris Zane
Friendly Fires chronology
Friendly Fires (2008) Pala (2011)
Singles from Pala
"Live Those Days Tonight" Released: 23 March 2011 "Hawaiian Air" Released: 25 July 2011[2] "Blue Cassette" Released: 5 December 2011 "Hurting" Released: 27 February 2012

Pala is the second album from British alternative dance band Friendly Fires. It was released in the UK on 16 May 2011, and charted at number 6 on the UK Albums Chart.^[3] The album name comes from Aldous Huxley's final novel Island, which tells the story of a journalist shipwrecked on the fictional island of Pala, which supports a utopian society.^[4][5][6] The parrot photograph was chosen from the private collection of Norwegian fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø.^[4]

Singles

• "Live Those Days Tonight" is the first single taken from the album. The track received its first play on Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1 on 22 March 2011. The band performed the song on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,^[7] and it was released to the US iTunes Store^[8] the next day. In the UK, it was released on 16 May 2011, the same day as the album, and charted at number 80 on the UK Singles Chart.
• "Hawaiian Air" as the second single taken from the album. The music video was shot in southern Spain in May 2011.^[9] It reached No. 92 in the UK, and appeared on the soundtrack of 2012 racing video game Forza Horizon alongside "Hurting".
• "Blue Cassette" was released as the third single on 2 December 2011, along with the Tiga Remix of the single.
• "Hurting" was announced as the next single by Nick Grimshaw on BBC Radio 1 on 3 August 2011 with the release date confirmed as 10 October 2011.^[10] Remixes of the single were released on 27 February 2012. It appeared on the soundtrack of Forza Horizon alongside "Hawaiian Air".

Track listing

Taken from the album booklet:

(*) additional production

Notes

• "Live Those Days Tonight" contains a sample of "Albondigas" by Badonday (Toby Tobias and Dave Garnish).
• "Hurting" contains a sample of "Lissoms" by Toro y Moi.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	73/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[12]
BBC	(very favourable)[13]
Clash	[14]
Drowned in Sound	(8/10)[15]
Evening Standard	[16]
The Guardian	[17]
The Independent	[18]
Metro	[19]
MusicOMH	[20]
NME	(8/10)[21]
Pitchfork Media	(7.4/10)[22]
TMR	[23]
Q
Slant Magazine	[24]

The album received a score of 73 on Metacritic (based on 22 reviews), indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[11]

Chart positions

Pala debuted on the UK Albums Chart at number 6 on 22 May 2011, that week's second highest debut after Kate Bush's Director's Cut. It also debuted at number 2 on the albums download chart, and number 3 on the UK Indie Chart.

References