Funeral For a Friend singer Matthew Davies-Kreye leaves the band

NME

Funeral For a Friend have announced that their singer Matthew Davies-Kreye has decided to leave the band.

In a lengthy post on Facebook, the band have said that the decision was made amicably, and that the remaining members intend to carry on and create new music.

“Hey folks, it’s with a heavy heart that we announce that after 20+ years, our singer and brother Matthew Davies-Kreye has decided to move on to pastures new going forward, and leaves with all our love, respect and gratitude,” the band wrote.

“While Matt moves on, the rest of us have come out of our recent ’20 Years Casually Dressed’ anniversary tour with a renewed spark and desire to create new music together, for the first time in this lineup for many years.”

“We’ll keep you updated on that in due course, but suffice it to say that we wouldn’t be entertaining new music if we didn’t feel the material we’re currently writing would hold up to the legacy of what we created back in the day. We hope you agree with us on that, and look forward to sharing with you next year.”

The band had already been confirmed to play at Slam Dunk Festival next year, and that is set to go ahead, with the singer Lucas Woodland from the band Holding Absence filling in for Davies-Kreye.

Davies-Kreye himself also commented on the decision, writing: ‘I never thought, after we called it a day back in 2016, that I would get the chance to revisit Funeral for a Friend let alone the way we did with Darran and Ryan back onboard.”

“Given the emotionally challenging circumstances around us coming back together to play the benefit show for Big Stu in 2019, I was so happy to see just how much love there still was for our music.”

“After the joy, fun and success of the last two tours Kris, Darran, Ryan, Gavin and Rich are eager to play more shows and explore what the band can still do creatively and I’m sure with what they have in mind their endeavours will push the band to new highs.”

“For me though, this is a road that I can’t walk down. I absolutely love everyone in FFAF, I love our fans and I loved these last shows we played but my life has moved on in so many ways since we first said goodbye back in 2016 that I can’t see myself being in an active band again.”

“So here we are, I wish Kris, Darran, Ryan, Gav and Rich all the luck and success in the world and I know they’ll be doing an incredible job and giving it everything they’ve got as always. To all of you, I can’t thank you enough for your support over the years and I can’t wait to hear you all singing along to the band’s songs for many more years to come.”

In March, the band announced a tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut album, ‘Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation’, with those dates wrapping up in October with a headline show at London’s Roundhouse.

The post-hardcore band formed in Bridgend, Wales in 2001 and recorded seven albums together, before splitting in 2016. They reformed three years later, playing a number of headline tours.

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