View basket “Never Let Me Down” has been added to your basket. Love the Stranger Friendship SKU: 20.00 21.00 £20.00 - £21.00 £20.00 - £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Merge Records Released Date: 29th July 2022 Buying Format: 1LP Coloured Vinyl Includes Download Code 1LP Includes Download Code Buying Options Choose an option1LP Coloured Vinyl Includes Download Code1LP Includes Download CodeClear Love the Stranger quantity Add to basket ReserveBack Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info Indies only vinyl is on blue & white vinyl. All vinyl comes with a download. Friendship’s Merge debut, Love the Stranger, moves like a country record skipping in just the right spot, leaving its fellow travelers longing for a place they’ve only visited in their dreams. Guitarist Peter Gill, drummer Michael Cormier-O’Leary, bassist Jon Samuels, and hawkeyed balladeer Dan Wriggins map out the group’s particular, breathtaking landscape and invite the listener to share in its glory. Love the Stranger’s invitation is all the more wondrous because its characters have clearly been hurt before. “I need solitude and I also need you,” Wriggins reckons in “Ugly Little Victory.” Wide awake, vulnerable, and gimmickless, Friendship won’t hesitate to confide in us, or even ask for help when the moment calls, like on the lyrical centerpiece of “Alive Twice”: Under your eyeball spell, I was losing myself/ Not in the good way you used to talk about / I remember a day, Cedar Park Cafe/ I was in a bad place and you set me straight/ With your on-the-nose advice. Between instrumental pit stops at “Kum & Go” and “Quickchek,” local references in Love the Stranger create a catalog of human perception, presented as roadside attractions. From grape jelly residue (“Ramekin”) to the site of a demolished cathedral (“St. Bonaventure”) to King of the Hill quotations (“Smooth Pursuit”), the record’s images craft a symbolic language of high and low Americana, both evocative and consistently accessible. Spending time with Love the Stranger creates a community one in which the window between the listener and the music[1]maker shatters in full, until all that remains are the fragments you decide to pick up together. Like its sprawling lyrical references, Love the Stranger’s production is both familiar and capacious enough for pedal steel, synth strings, airy folk guitar field recordings, and MIDI pad exploration to work in vital harmony. Influenced by Friendship’s punk and indie peers as much as road-star forebears like Lucinda Williams and Lambchop, Wriggins says of the recording sessions: “We all got to stretch out, chase our personal musical fixations, and build on each others’ work. Bradford Krieger, our engineer at Big Nice Studio, has a mind-blowing creative energy and hundreds (thousands?) of instruments.” He recalls further: “I wanted the album to sound like Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band in the ’70s. Pete wanted it to sound like a semi full of spent fuel rods, barreling towards a runaway truck ramp. Jon kept reminding us that the studio is an instrument, and Michael wanted it to sound like the breakdown two-and-a-half minutes into Shuggie Otis’ ‘Strawberry Letter 23.’” Some breakdowns, however, are irreparable. Wriggins, a manual laborer and poet, calls “Hank” “a song about when you go to fix something that’s broken and realize the tools you’re supposed to fix it with are also broken.” Form follows function on the mesmerizing outro of the single, which buzzes with the sound of a shoddy Craigslist guitar from Woonsocket, RI (incidentally, the home of the Museum of Work & Culture) getting chainsawed in two. Friendship is probably already your favorite band’s favorite band, a long-revered IYKYK of DIY with a devoted cult following from Wawa to In-N-Out. With Love the Stranger, the Friendship universe only continues to expand and grow more open-hearted, more inviting, with every passing note. It’s a record that locates the listener exactly where the listener is, and wherever that may be, makes a friend out of them, too. All said and done, the age-old maxim of “Mr. Chill” holds true: “You be real with me and I’ll be real with you” Artist Friendship Genre Rock And Pop Label Merge Records Buying Options 1LP Coloured Vinyl Includes Download Code , 1LP Includes Download Code Format 1LP , Coloured Vinyl , Includes Download Code Condition New Country UK Track Listings SIDE A 1. St. Bonaventure 2. What’s the Move 3. Blue Canoe 4. Hank 5. Chomp Chomp 6. Love’s 7. No Way 8. Alive Twice SIDE B 9. Quickchek 10. Ramekin 11. Mr. Chill 12. UDF 13. Ryde 14. Season 15. Kum & Go 16. Ugly Little Victory 17. Smooth Pursuit Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Rock And Pop View Product Quick View Entrance Book Of Changes Rock And Pop | Thrill Jockey | 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 24th February 2017 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Entrance Book Of Changes £17.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Thrill Jockey SKU: THRILL432LP Formats: 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 24th February 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View G Flip Drummer Rock And Pop | Future Classic | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 19th January 2024 £25.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders G Flip Drummer £25.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Future Classic SKU: 6922461811 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 19th January 2024 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View U2 Achtung Baby – 30th Anniversary Edition Rock And Pop | Island | 180g, 2LP Released 19th November 2021 £37.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders U2 Achtung Baby – 30th Anniversary Edition £37.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Island SKU: 3868625 Formats: 180g, 2LP Released Date: 19th November 2021 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Nitzer Ebb Ebbhead Rock And Pop | Pylon | 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 29th January 2021 £33.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Nitzer Ebb Ebbhead £33.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Pylon SKU: PYLON45LP Formats: 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 29th January 2021 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Jesus And Mary Chain, The The Sound Of Speed Rock And Pop | 1972 | 180g, 1LP Released 28th February 2013 £23.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Jesus And Mary Chain, The The Sound Of Speed £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: 1972 SKU: IF20LP Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 28th February 2013 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Stone Roses, The Turns Into Stone Rock And Pop | Modern Classics / Light In The Attic | 180g, 2LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released 29th January 2016 £30.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Stone Roses, The Turns Into Stone £30.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Modern Classics / Light In The Attic SKU: MCR915 Formats: 180g, 2LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 29th January 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Chemical Brothers, The Surrender 20th Anniversary Expanded Electronica | UMC/Virgin | 4LP, Box Set Released 22nd November 2019 £100.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Chemical Brothers, The Surrender 20th Anniversary Expanded £100.00 Genre: Electronica Label: UMC/Virgin SKU: 7785040 Formats: 4LP, Box Set Released Date: 22nd November 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Panic! At The Disco Pray For The Wicked Rock And Pop | Atlantic | 1LP Released 22nd June 2018 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Panic! At The Disco Pray For The Wicked £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Atlantic SKU: 0075678657238 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 22nd June 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Backstreet Boys DNA Rock And Pop | RCA | 1LP Released 25th January 2019 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Backstreet Boys DNA £20.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: RCA SKU: 19075893761 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 25th January 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Foreigner Foreigner Rock And Pop | Rhino Focus | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 6th October 2023 £28.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Foreigner Foreigner £28.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Rhino Focus SKU: 0603497837021 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 6th October 2023 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Rock And Pop Start again
View Product Quick View Entrance Book Of Changes Rock And Pop | Thrill Jockey | 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 24th February 2017 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Entrance Book Of Changes £17.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Thrill Jockey SKU: THRILL432LP Formats: 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 24th February 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View G Flip Drummer Rock And Pop | Future Classic | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 19th January 2024 £25.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders G Flip Drummer £25.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Future Classic SKU: 6922461811 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 19th January 2024 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View U2 Achtung Baby – 30th Anniversary Edition Rock And Pop | Island | 180g, 2LP Released 19th November 2021 £37.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders U2 Achtung Baby – 30th Anniversary Edition £37.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Island SKU: 3868625 Formats: 180g, 2LP Released Date: 19th November 2021 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Nitzer Ebb Ebbhead Rock And Pop | Pylon | 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 29th January 2021 £33.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Nitzer Ebb Ebbhead £33.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Pylon SKU: PYLON45LP Formats: 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 29th January 2021 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Jesus And Mary Chain, The The Sound Of Speed Rock And Pop | 1972 | 180g, 1LP Released 28th February 2013 £23.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Jesus And Mary Chain, The The Sound Of Speed £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: 1972 SKU: IF20LP Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 28th February 2013 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Stone Roses, The Turns Into Stone Rock And Pop | Modern Classics / Light In The Attic | 180g, 2LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released 29th January 2016 £30.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Stone Roses, The Turns Into Stone £30.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Modern Classics / Light In The Attic SKU: MCR915 Formats: 180g, 2LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 29th January 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Chemical Brothers, The Surrender 20th Anniversary Expanded Electronica | UMC/Virgin | 4LP, Box Set Released 22nd November 2019 £100.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Chemical Brothers, The Surrender 20th Anniversary Expanded £100.00 Genre: Electronica Label: UMC/Virgin SKU: 7785040 Formats: 4LP, Box Set Released Date: 22nd November 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Panic! At The Disco Pray For The Wicked Rock And Pop | Atlantic | 1LP Released 22nd June 2018 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Panic! At The Disco Pray For The Wicked £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Atlantic SKU: 0075678657238 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 22nd June 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Backstreet Boys DNA Rock And Pop | RCA | 1LP Released 25th January 2019 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Backstreet Boys DNA £20.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: RCA SKU: 19075893761 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 25th January 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Foreigner Foreigner Rock And Pop | Rhino Focus | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 6th October 2023 £28.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Foreigner Foreigner £28.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Rhino Focus SKU: 0603497837021 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 6th October 2023 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders