Linkin Park’s new song, “Friendly Fire,” which was initially recorded during the One More Light sessions in 2017 but was then shelved to be released as a B-side sometime in the future, has officially arrived.
Poignantly, the single features one of the last recorded vocal performances by their late, great frontman Chester Bennington, who tragically died by suicide the same year it was recorded.
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One More Light was characterized by the more electro-pop sound that Linkin Park grew into over the years, and “Friendly Fire” fits right into that sonic pocket.
The song will appear on a new career-spanning Linkin Park best-of album, Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023), which is due out April 12 via Warner Records.
In addition to “Friendly Fire,” Papercuts encompasses everything from classic hits like “Crawling” and “Somewhere I Belong” to the coveted rarity “QWERTY.” The compilation will be available on all digital platforms and CD, cassette, and various vinyl variants, including a Zoetrope picture disc and limited-edition colors. Papercuts is available for preorder now.
According to guitarist Brad Delson, “Friendly Fire” was always one of the band’s favorite songs from the One More Light sessions. “Something about it wasn’t quite right, so as close as it got to the finish line, we chose to set it aside for later,” he explains of why the song was shelved. “When we started looking for an unreleased track to include on our greatest hits collection, I was blown away by the power of the song, the power of the storytelling, the power of the vocal, the sonic landscape, and I actually thought that it was closer than maybe we had realized at the time.”
Delson adds: “We got together to work on it and connect some of the missing pieces that for whatever reason hadn’t revealed themselves during the recording of One More Light. I can’t wait for people to hear it. It’s such a beautiful, compelling, heartbreaking, hopeful story, and it really resonates with me today.”
Listen to “Friendly Fire” below.
This article was originally published on RevolverMag.com and has been edited by Alternative Press.
