Funeral For a Friend - ‘Into Oblivion [Reunion]’ (Atlantic) Released 07/05/07

Apparently Funeral For A Friend are ‘baffled’ as to why they have been labelled an emo band, (boys, the name, Funeral For A Friend? What could be more emo than a funeral, for a friend? Plus you have silly haircuts and penchant for black attire, case closed). The new single ‘Into Oblivion’ sees the band trying to shed those associations. Singer Matt Davies losing the screamo tendencies heard on the past two albums seeming to actually take pride in his singing, though the American lilt remains firmly intact. Meanwhile the rest of the band push the music into a more arena-rock oriented, erm… arena.

What we have here is a wall of noise with U2 style production and a video cut with crashing waves and other elemental wonders. A sort of mock-epic, power-grab of a record.