Kiss of Life

Album: Single Release Only (2009)
Charted: 30
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Songfacts®:

  • Frontman Ed Macfarlane told the NME June 27th 2009 that this song is inspired by Brazilian music. He explained: "All the rhythms are traditional samba rhythms. All our brass layers from our recent tour drum for the London School Of Samba, so they've been giving us some ideas."
  • Friendly Fires worked on the song with British producer Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Kate Nash). The trio had worked with Epworth before, including on their previous single "Jump in the Pool." However previously their collaborations didn't go, er, swimmingly. Macfarlane admitted to the NME: "We did work with Paul before that and it was a disaster. But we've come round to the idea that maybe producers do have a purpose. When we worked with him in his own little box room studio it worked, whereas when you're flung together in some high-class studio it's quite awkward."
  • Macfarlane had the idea to sample and loop samba drums while hanging out at London's Brazilian club Guanabara. He enthused to The Guardian August 22, 2009: "There's nothing like hearing a huge troupe of drummers playing this massive rhythm, surrounded by beautiful dancing girls in amazing attire and everyone screaming their heads off," he enthuses. "It's dance music at its most exciting and energetic. It had the atmosphere of the best techno raves."

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