"Brand New Friend"
Single byLloyd Cole and the Commotions
from the albumEasy Pieces
B-side	"Her Last Fling"
Released	6 September 1985[1]
Length	4:51
Label	Polydor
Songwriter(s)	Lloyd Cole Blair Cowan
Producer(s)	Clive Langer Alan Winstanley
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions singles chronology
"Rattlesnakes" (1984) "Brand New Friend" (1985) "Lost Weekend" (1985)
Music video
"Brand New Friend" onYouTube

"Brand New Friend" is a song by British bandLloyd Cole and the Commotions, released in 1985 as the lead single from their second studio albumEasy Pieces. The song was written by band membersLloyd Cole andBlair Cowan, and produced byClive Langer andAlan Winstanley. It peaked at number 19 in theUK Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for nine weeks.

In a 1985 interview withSounds, Cole described "Brand New Friend" as being "about a character who's in a fairly pitiful position of being aware that he's not as happy as he once was, but not being sure what to do about it. He's also aware that he's verging on self-pity, which is also quite ridiculous. So it's quite funny too. He's aware it's a little cry for help."^[2]

Upon its release as a single, Diane Cross ofRecord Mirror described "Brand New Friend" as "another slightly uptempo, soulful sound from the man with the sorrowful eyes". She felt it would "probably manage to avoid chart domination, but will more than please his many fans".^[3] Frank Edmonds of theBury Free Press gave the single an 8 out of 10 rating. He noted the "striking vocal married to a lovely tune" and added, "Cole just oozes stylish moodiness and here it spills out all over the record."^[4]

Karen Swayne ofNumber One commented, "Lloyd's mannered vocals are as appealing as ever, though a bit uncomfortable over such a jaunty little tune. There are strings and girl backing vocals thrown in for good measure, but I'd have preferred a simpler sound. Even so, it outclasses most of the week's releases."^[5] Sean O'Hagan ofNME felt both "Brand New Friend" and its B-side, "Her Last Fling", are "haunted by the ghost of vintageDylan/Reed/Ferry". He commented, "The opening line bodes well but Lloyd is still content to slip into the guise of his heroes and revisit territory that has already been done to death."^[6]

7–inch single (UK, Europe, US, Canada and Japan)^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

1. "Brand New Friend" – 4:46
2. "Her Last Fling" – 2:46

7–inch single (Australasia)^[12]

1. "Brand New Friend" – 4:00
2. "Her Last Fling" – 2:46

12–inch single (UK, Europe and Australasia)^[13][14]

1. "Brand New Friend" (Long Version) – 5:34
2. "Her Last Fling" – 2:46
3. "2CV" (Recorded live) – 3:00
4. "Speedboat" (Recorded live) – 4:15

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions

• Lloyd Cole – vocals, guitar
• Neil Clark – guitar
• Blair Cowan – keyboards
• Lawrence Donegan – bass
• Stephen Irvine – drums

Additional musicians on "Brand New Friend"

• Jimmy Thomas – backing vocals
• Jimmy Helms – backing vocals
• Lance Ellington – backing vocals
• Anne Dudley – string arrangement

Production

• Clive Langer – producer ("Brand New Friend")
• Alan Winstanley – producer ("Brand New Friend")
• Lloyd Cole and the Commotions – producers ("Her Last Fling", "2CV", "Speedboat")
• Richard Sullivan – engineer ("Brand New Friend", "Her Last Fling")
• Mark Saunders – engineer ("Brand New Friend", "Her Last Fling")
• Kenny MacDonald – engineer ("Brand New Friend", "Her Last Fling")

Other

• Peter Anderson – sleeve
• Clare Cameron – sleeve

• 1985 songs
• 1985 singles
• Lloyd Cole songs
• Songs written by Lloyd Cole
• Song recordings produced by Clive Langer
• Song recordings produced by Alan Winstanley
• Polydor Records singles

• CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with hAudio microformats
• Single chart usages for Ireland2
• Single chart called without artist
• Single chart usages for UKsinglesbyname