Do Nothing announce second album, Friend World

Do Nothing are set to release Friend World on 6 November via Submarine Cat Records. The announcement arrives almost exactly three years after their debut album, Snake Sideways, with “Stars” arriving as the first preview of the collection of songs. Speaking about the new track, vocalist Chris Bailey says, “I guess the simplest interpretation of this one would be that it’s about ambition, and people who are famous, and all the ways in which it doesn’t make them happy people. More than that though, I’d say it’s about finding someone you connect with enough that you quit caring about the other things that used to drive you.”

Friend House was produced and mixed by Louis Milburn of Folly Group and recorded at JT Soar in Nottingham. The album sees the band moving away from expectations, now with more confidence. “With the first record there was a feeling of trying to move away from what people expected of us,” says vocalist Chris Bailey. “This time we felt much freer. We didn’t feel any pressure to make a departure. We could follow whatever ideas felt exciting and not worry about what it meant.”

The album’s title was inspired in part by comedian Andy Kaufman, who used to end his shows singing “This Friendly World”. Bailey found the song’s positivity difficult to interpret beyond sarcasm. Across eleven tracks, Friend World explores loneliness, introversion, self-destruction and the awkward realities of human connection, as Bailey explains, "For me it’s an album about a lot of bleak things, but it doesn’t feel bleak. I enjoyed making it more than anything we’ve ever done, and I’m more proud of it than anything we’ve ever made. That’s the whole point of the title really. There’s two sides to everything. Without the bad, there isn’t the good.”

Friend World artwork

Friend World tracklist

“Misery”
“The Nail”
“Act Natural”
“These People Want Blood”
“Stars”
“Smile”
“Dog 2”
“Loner”
“Yes”
“Paris Jesus”
“Incommunicado”