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Linkin Park have released a previously unheard track, Friendly Fire

The song from the nu-metal kings' One More Light era comes as part of a new compilation, Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023), coming in April...

Linkin Park have released a previously unheard track, Friendly Fire
Words:
Nick Ruskell

Linkin Park have dropped a previously unreleased tune, Friendly Fire, taken from the sessions for their final album, 2017's One More Light, and an accompanying video which features unseen live and studio footage of the band recording with late singer Chester Bennington.

“Friendly Fire was always one of our favorite songs from the One More Light sessions," says guitarist Brad Delson. "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. 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 realised at the time.

"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," he continues. "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.”

It comes alongside the announcement of a new compilation album, Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023), set for release on April 12. Spanning the band's entire career, it brings together for the first time all their singles, including In The End, recently certified platinum by the RIAA for more than 10 million sales.

“In the making of each Linkin Park album, I want to love and believe in each individual song completely," says Mike Shinoda of the project. "I hope that if any one track is heard on its own in the world, it is something I can feel proud of, and something that takes root inside the listener and becomes part of the energy that connects us.

"Curating the tracks for Papercuts was a joy. Each song in this collection is both a singular moment on our timeline and an evolving story that is as much ours as it is yours. From our first release, One Step Closer to the brand-new Friendly Fire, this tracklist spans all our chapters so far. Thank you for being a part of our journey. We hope you enjoy Papercuts.”

Full tracklisting is...

1. Crawling
2. Faint
3. Numb/Encore
4. Papercut
5. Breaking The Habit
6. In The End
7. Bleed It Out
8. Somewhere I Belong
9. Waiting For The End
10. Castle Of Glass
11. One More Light
12. Burn It Down
13. What I’ve Done
14. QWERTY
15. One Step Closer
16. New Divide
17. Leave Out All The Rest
18. Lost
19. Numb
20. Friendly Fire

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