Double A-Side's are a weird beast. The main reason being that there is still ultimately only one actual A-side. One song that stands above the other and only one song a video gets made for. I would say that in this case the track listing should be switched and Funeral for a Friend would once again have a great single on their hands. "Beneath the Burning Tree" would not personally be an A-Side from my perspective and I would have to question the A&R that have helped make this choice for them. As they have currently been abandoned, or dropped, or they left of their own accord from their Major label home of Atlantic Records I would assume that the A&R on this single and their up and coming album will be the band themselves. This is never a wise move as the band are usually to close to the songs to make a good A&R judgement and "Beneath The Burning Tree" is a good demonstrator of this.
"Beneath the Burning Tree" feels rushed, kind of like a knee-jerk reaction to whatever happened to them. It feels like not enough time has been spent on it from both a writing perspective, a recording and a production perspective. There are moments where something happens within the song and the whole thing jumps up a few Decibels in volume which makes for unpleasant listening (01:28, 01:52, 2:53 [particularly this one]). Also, throughout the track the vocals feel drowned out by the rest of the instrumentation (particularly the drums and the overly loud lead guitars). Luckily the chorus of the song really helps save this song as it is ultra catchy.
If I am being ultra picky (which I am) I would have to state that all the drum fills in "Beneath the Burning Tree" are amazingly quiet in comparison with the "power snare" beat that slams throughout the rest of the track making what should be really impressive sounding drum fills sound really weak and unpronounced. All of this probably comes down to the fact that the same guy is recording, producing, mixing and maybe even mastering this which is ultimately the same as doing the A&R yourself. It leaves you too close to the music in some cases to make the right mixing choices.
From an unsigned band level doing all of the recording processes under one roof is not such a big issue HOWEVER, when it comes to a band like Funeral for a Friend it's probably an unwise choice. I attribute this to the fact that this single and album are being self released by the band. As with anything, when something is being done on your own dollar you tend to scrimp a little. Funeral for A Friend who are by now used to working in some of the best recording studios in the world have had to resort to doing their new album in a local Cardiff recording studio. Luckily for them their local studio choice has left them in good hands but none-the-less it has to be slightly disappointing for them to have to down-grade in such a drastic manner. Hopefully the independence Funeral for a Friend have on this release will yield excellent results.
On the flip side "Waterfront Dance Club" is an ACE tune! It hankers back to the Funeral for a Friend of old that everyone grew to love and that everyone has been trying to find in all of their releases for a very long time. This song has a great heavy intro and although nothing else in this song comes as close (apart from maybe the end) to being as good, you will be quite happy in the melodic and lyrical qualities of the song. This is the type of song that has the character that will make you want to come back and listen to it over and over again. "Waterfront Dance Club" without a doubt should have been the single A-Side with "Beneath The Burning Tree" falling short as a B-Side. In my personal opinion this IS NOT a double A-Side single. The production on "Waterfront Dance Club" is much more refined too with a lot more care appearing to have been taken throughout. Everything sits nicely and helps to demonstrate the old Funeral for a Friend sound that I have been waiting an age to hear again. If there are more songs like this on the new album then it is destined to be amazing!
I hope Funeral for a Friend take their time with this album and do it the justice it deserves and really prove to their previous label that they made a major mistake getting rid of them (or whatever actually happened). As with all break-ups there are knee-jerk reactions which in the majority of cases are usually non thought out/bad reactions. "Beneath The Burning Tree" is hopefully Funeral for a Friends only one during this break up.
If they focus on making the rest of the album as good as "Waterfront Dance Club" and correctly A&R everything then all will be ace for the new (and independent) Funeral For a Friend. If not, this might well be their final release. It's make or break time for the Welsh quartet and based on this single I would say that currently it could swing either way HOWEVER I do have my fingers crossed for them!
Much Love.
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