Funeral for a Friend - Tales Don't Tell Themselves

Not a terrible concept.


Funeral for a Friend's third full length album has recently caused some debate among fans. With a very different sound to this concept album, fans may not like what they are hearing when they start listening. The story is terribly simple (Think Perfect Storm meets Cast Away), but is also very catchy. We have the main character who gets lost at sea, his crew is killed during the storm, he is presumably alone on an island wishing to be home. Into Oblivion (Reunion) starts off with a little technopop intro and very few lyrics in the song. It does set the stage thematically, which was the band's intention according to Matt Davies (lead singer), he has also been quoted saying that this album was a way to overcome his fear of the ocean. Great Wide Open has a great ending like most of the songs on the record, singing "the rush of the flood sends the blood to my head," and "climb out into the great wide open." The Diary isn't really anything completely special, but the back and forth between the male and female voice (the sailor and his wife) asking "When will you be coming home?" All Hands on Deck Part 1 : Raise the Sail sounds a little thrashier and leads into a very strong chorus. It shows a little bit of chaos maybe reminiscing the death of his crew and their loss of hope. It has a great lead into Part 2 : it follows a similar pattern with the music and keeps with the theme of death in the water. Out of Reach sounds most like their older and possibly better albums (Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation and Hours). It is the part of the song where the ships are launching to search and perhaps giving up as the crew is "to far gone to be saved." One for the Road shows the wife's lament over her loss and that she is waiting for him to come home. It is a catchy tune like many of these songs and has a strong finish. The last two songs are Walk Away and The Sweetest Wave and hold up pretty well. The first is about letting go, maybe the sailor telling his wife to let go and walk away from his memory. The Sweetest Wave opens with a piano and string set with Davies singing over it very nicely. It brings the album to a close in a very cinematic way. Obviously intentional and slowly drawing it is probably the most redeeming track on the release. It doesn't save it entirely but it brings something back. Its a good story even in its simplicity. There are many elements to this album that would allow one to enjoy it, and yes it is much more mainstream than their previous releases. The people who are going to dislike and downplay this album are the ones who are in love with the emocore that started this band. If you were to appreciate the talent that went into this record and the risks they are taking by trying to break out of that "scene" label that was bestowed upon them, then you would absolutely enjoy it.