‘Just Friends’ is the ninth song on Nine Black Alps’ debut album Everything Is. It was released as a single. I sort of remember the time it’s video was doing the rounds on MTV2, recalling how upbeat and light-hearted it was in comparison to ‘Unsatisfied’.

Turns out I’ve been mishearing this song’s lyrics for all this time, and as a result my initial interpretation of it has been thrown out the window. Originally I thought it was about two people breaking up and becoming ‘just friends’. It’s actually the opposite. What I thought was “now, in the long, we’re just friends” in the chorus is really “now we’re no longer just friends”. It’s about being heavily invested in a relationship and stepping up to the plate to make things work, but it’s all delivered in a very cynical, “meh, I don’t really care” attitude in the lyrics.

The track is two minutes and 15 seconds long, starting off strongly right from the start with a drum roll and its main riff, just as the cymbals from the preceding track on the album are beginning to fade out. It’s a song with high energy, great melodies throughout via the guitars and Sam Forrest’s vocal take. It’s another gem from a fantastic album that I’m grateful I actually own to this day.