Gabriel Szatan

As the indie-rock era of the noughties crumpled into today’s shuffle-friendly smudge of house, pop, funk and global grooves, Friendly Fires seemed poised to dominate. The St Albans band’s first two LPs were ahead of the curve, with an incandescent sound that took in Brazilian samba, New York dance-punk and Chicago house. Helpfully, it sounded as good on radio as it did in clubs. But then the fun stopped. Lead singer Ed Macfarlane hit burnout. The big festival slots went to others like Todd Terje or Disclosure. Their sweaty floral shirts were retired. Having played around 300 gigs in the five years between 2007 and 2012, the trio played five in the next five years. Yet following some low-key comeback shows to shake off the rust, a sold-out rave-up at Brixton Academy last year was the sign that Friendly Fires were back. Now, new album ‘Inflorescent’  beckons too. When we meet on a sunny day in Peckham, the band looks every bit a unified front. Recent singles ‘Heaven Let Me In’ – which cleverly switches from insistent verses to a hushed, filter-swept chorus – and ‘Lack of Love’ – a cover of Charles B and Adonis’s 1988 acid house classic – are racking up serious numbers online and delighting audiences in the flesh. The trio are bubbly and unguarded in conversation, giving the impression that they are, quite simply, relieved to have found a way to make it all click again… You were flat out at a video shoot for ‘Silhouettes’ yesterday. Is this the first time you’ve done choreogr

Well, This is a humdinger. Thom Yorke has been announced as the sub-headliner for Massive Attack’s day at All Points East. And not Yorke backed by Radiohead, nor his usual flashy setup. Just him, solo at sundown, with a guitar and a piano, and maybe a theremin if he’s in the mood. So, a big coup for APE. And it makes sense. Yorke and Robert Del Naja have worked together on a film score, supported Extinction Rebellion and been de facto leaders of the left-leaning, dub-friendly electronic-rock movement for the last 30-odd years. Yorke has got form for this kind of outlier gig, too. Some might remember a similar bonus addition being made to Latitude Festival 2009. Back then, a bleary Sunday lunchtime crowd got a smattering of tunes from his solo debut, ‘The Eraser’, but mostly stripped-back Radiohead bits, including a deep cut called ‘True Love Waits’. Now, he’s got 2014’s glitchy ‘Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes’ and last year’s pastoral ‘Anima’ under his belt, as well as a horror soundtrack for ‘Suspiria’. He also once popped into an Oxford neighbour’s garden to do an impromptu acoustic gig in 2016. So Victoria Park will be a cinch. Over time, his hair has grown scruffier, beard scraggier, voice craggier. But pretty much all his predictions of lurching autocracy, digital control and climate apocalyptica have come to pass. Which makes his solo outing at All Points East not just rare, but a fun chance to hear from the world’s première oracle about the next crises to befall humanity. And