The Fratellis are back with another little taster from their upcoming fifth studio album In Your Own Sweet Time, released by Cooking Vinyl 16th March. Starcrossed Losers is a raucous Romeo & Juliet riff that perfectly encapsulates the madcap absurdist abandon of the Brit Award-winning Glaswegian trio’s forthcoming LP.
Now in their second decade, the Fratellis have lost none of their off-the-wall, eyes-shut, on-your-feet fun. In Your Own Sweet Time is filled to the brim with fast-paced tracks; peppered with Jon Fratelli’s razor-sharp lyrics and pitch-black sense of humour. Starcrossed Losers is one of a number of ersatz love stories that crop up in an album dedicated to cheeky role-playing.
Star Crossed Losers focuses on a low-rent Romeo & Juliet, transposed from fair Verona to a Scottish “backyard”: teenage romance has gone bad as Juliet tugs on Romeo’s sleeve, just to learn he’s “only passing through”. Melodrama and tragedy is transformed to a very British form of self-deprecation, matched by a slick production that features sweet chimes rising above a dirty bass line courtesy of Barry Fratelli and the unmistakable Mince Fratelli patent drum pounding. Jon notes “it’s slightly slicker than the rest of the stuff on the album. But sometimes you have to serve the song, and that’s what the song needed.” The song makes use of a Prince-like falsetto that runs like a vein through In Your Own Sweet Time, adding a layer of hyperactive theatricality to an already joyously stuffed production. “There are a lot of little elements to pull into a four-minute song”, Jon admits with a smile.
Listen to ‘Starcrossed Losers’ – BELOW:
Out 16th March, In Your Own Sweet Time once again sees the Fratellis team up with six-time Grammy and Mercury nominated American producer Tony Hoffer (Beck, The Kooks, M83, Belle & Sebastian). Boasting all the sweaty, joyful energy of 1970s American pop, combined with the testosterone-fueled virtuosity of the best British rock, In Your Own Sweet Time is a shot of pure, uninhibited, pleasure.
TOUR DATES
8th March – Banquet New Slang – 9pm (In-Store)
16th March – HMV Glasgow – 5:30pm (In-Store)
22nd March – Liverpool Olympia
23rd March – Manchester Academy
24th March – London O2 Forum Kentish Town
26th March – Nottingham Rock City
27th March – Birmingham O2 Institute
29th March – Bristol O2 Academy
30th March – Newcastle O2 Academy
31st March – Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom
30th June – Grassington Festival, Grassington
1st July – Texfest, Market Harborough
10th August – ‘Summer Nights’ Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow
9th September– Eklectica Festival, Isle Of Wight
Be the first to comment