It may have “started off as a drunken conversation” in Corsica, but it’s now a reality: XL are set to release a split EP between St Alban’s dance-pop trio Friendly Fires and DFA’s Holy Ghost.

Apparently said convo came in the wake of a Holy Ghost DJ set at the Calvi Rocks festival last July. Friendly Fires had played live earlier, and in the “post-gig haze” the decision was made by each band to cover the other’s songs.

More press release: “Eight months later and here are the quite brilliant results.  Friendly Fires were the first to honour the agreement, finishing 2009 in the studio with a superb take on the DFA duo’s ‘Hold On’ classic.

“Meanwhile, Holy Ghost’s cover of ‘On Board’ took a little longer – sessions disappeared, vocal tracks mysteriously vanished, hard drives were fractured and somewhere in the middle of it, the duo lost their close friend Jerry Fuchs, whose awe-inspiring drumming is at the core of this version of  ‘On Board’. The results are equally special.”

So there you go. XL / DFA will release the split on a 12” EP and digital download (with bonus track) on March 8. Both tracklists follow.

12″ Tracklist:
A1. Friendly Fires – Hold On
A2. Friendly Fires  – Hold On (Instrumental)
AA1. Holy Ghost – On Board
AA2. Holy Ghost – On Board (Instrumental)

Digital Tracklist:
1. Friendly Fires – Hold On
2. Friendly Fires  – Hold On (Instrumental)
3. Holy Ghost – On Board
4. Holy Ghost – On Board (Instrumental)
5. Holy Ghost – On Board (Dub)