Special Friend Released New Single & Video “Bête”

New album ‘Wait Until The Flames Come Rushing In’ will follow on June 30^th (vinyl LP, CD, digital).

The single and album are co-released by Skep Wax Records and French labels Howlin’ Banana Records and Hidden Bay Records.

SPECIAL FRIEND (American Erica Ashleson and French Guillaume Siracusa) are a duo with a sound that’s somehow minimal and epic. She drums, he plays guitar, their voices harmonise, a bontempi organ slips in almost unnoticed – and suddenly you find yourself lost in the huge landscape of a song.

Bête is one of many great tracks on the album – insistent, catchy, yet mysterious and elusive.  Erica and Guillaume switch effortlessly from English to French in their songs but the melodies are so entrancing you often don’t notice the change.  The lyrics lie in wait for you, and they are powerful (Bête is about the self-destructiveness of our species), but the music will seduce you first.

You may be reminded of Yo La Tengo, the Delgados or, when the volume goes up, Quasi and Galaxie 500. But Special Friend bring something new, something special!

Based in Paris, they’ve built a strong following in France, and the new album looks set to introduce them to the wider audience they deserve. The video for Bête is a good introduction to the band; it was filmed in the summer at Studio Heat in Montreuil, where the album was recorded.

SPECIAL FRIEND will be playing in London on 30^th June (the day of the album release) at the Skep Wax Summer Fête (The Lexington, London).