Friend Within

Born in Kirby near Liverpool, British dance music veteran Lee Mortimer first encountered fame through his alias Friend Within, which specializes in funky, uplifting productions that draw from both Chicago house traditions and U.K. bass influences. His breakthrough arrived in 2013 via the single “The Renegade,” a rework of Wildchild’s 1995 hit “Renegade Master,” and he reached the U.K. Dance chart the following year with the Disclosure collaboration “The Mechanism.” Subsequent releases appeared regularly on Dirtybird, Toolroom Records, and Defected as he continued to evolve his approach. In 2018 he issued the playlist-styled Friend Within Presents: Love Defined, followed in 2021 by the full-length album Hope.

Mortimer developed an early affection for rave and house records that reached the Top 40, and he began experimenting with music-production software around the age of twelve. Starting in 2005 he issued material predominantly under his own name, though a handful of tracks came out as Lemon Pesterer or Sawtooth Sucka and later as Tymer. He co-founded Wearhouse Music in 2006 and placed additional records on Dubsided and Fool’s Gold. At the time he became a prominent figure within the rising electro-house scene, issuing collaborations with Laidback Luke and Foamo, who would later form Gorgon City. Growing weary of the sound as it shifted toward EDM, he shifted direction after discovering tracks by Eats Everything, Shadow Child, and Disclosure, opting instead for slower, less frenetic house. Adopting the name Friend Within, he anonymously forwarded material to Claude VonStroke of Dirtybird Records and Jamie Russell of Hypercolour—both prior acquaintances—who agreed to release the music.

Early 2013 saw “The Game” appear on Dirtybird, followed by The Renegade EP on Disclosure’s Method Records; its title track, built around a sample of “Renegade Master,” quickly became a club favorite. The Underground EP surfaced on Hypercolour in 2014, the same year “The Mechanism” climbed to number 28 on the U.K. Dance chart. Three EPs followed on Mortimer’s own He Loves You label, while further tracks surfaced on Dirtybird Select and the Defected sublabel DFTD in 2016. Early 2018 brought Friend Within Presents: Love Defined, a two-hour set conceived more as a playlist than a conventional album. After signing with Toolroom Records he released multiple singles, among which “The Truth” achieved the strongest response. Additional collaborations with Friendly Fires and A-Trak emerged in 2019, and the optimistic full-length Hope arrived in 2021.