Scottish rockers The Fratellis yesterday unveiled their sixth studio album Half Drunk Under A New Moon. The record, which is out now via Cooking Vinyl, is the Glasgow trio’s first LP in three years, following on from 2018’s In Your Own Sweet Time.
Our new album Half Drunk Under A Full Moon, is out now! Buy and listen here >> https://t.co/7El3cnpObG pic.twitter.com/7TEv5edUv1
— The Fratellis (@TheFratellis) April 2, 2021
The Fratellis have already released a clutch of singles from the new record, including the Tamla Motown-influenced brass-pop singalong number Six Days In June; sweeping ballad Action Replay; and the up-tempo, doo-wop number Need A Little Love. In an interview with The Scotsman in February, frontman Jon Fratelli spoke about the group’s musical evolution over recent years – which has never been more audible than it is on the new record – saying: “I’m sure it can’t have escaped the notice of the people who’ve liked what we do from the beginning, those poor souls, that if you compare the first record to where we are now, it’s hard to imagine it’s even the same group of people. An easy description would be to say it’s a colourful group of songs; they feel multi-coloured.”
Early reviews for the new album have been resoundingly positive. Gigwise‘s Vicky Greer opines: “With more sonic intricacy than ever before and typically gorgeous lyrics, The Fratellis have yet again knocked it out of the park”, adding: “With every album, they tweak and develop their sound to show a new side of themselves, without compromising that part of their music that makes them instantly recognisable…Maybe one day The Fratellis will make a bad album, but not this time.”
Elsewhere, NME have praised the band for decisively breaking free from the sizeable lad-rock spectre of their signature 2006 glam-tinged rabble-rouser Chelsea Dagger. Jordan Bassett writes “‘Chelsea Dagger’ has overshadowed the band since it rocketed the then-unknowns into the Top 10 in 2006, a time when a pork pie hat and a dream was all that stood between you and a mid-afternoon set at V Festival. 43 million YouTube streams of the song – and just as many sports montages and pub brawls – followed. The album of jaunty, scratchy indie tunes that the song appeared on, ‘Costello Music’, sold more than a million copies and spent no less than 83 weeks in the charts. If you checked out after that, here’s some potentially surprising news: five albums later, the trio have released 10 classy, lush songs audibly inspired by ‘60s girl group doo-wop.”
This summer The Fratellis are also set to release their cover of Baccara’s disco classic Yes Sir, I Can Boogie in honour of Scotland’s appearance at the delayed European Championships. It remains to be seen whether their rendition will have the same impact as the Manic Street Preachers’ superb Together Stronger (Come on Wales) or the Lightning Seeds’ much-played Three Lions; both of which inspired their home nations to semi-final appearances in 2016 and 1996 respectively. Baccara’s Maria Mendiola told the Scottish Sun that The Fratellis’ take on the Spanish duo’s 1977 hit was “not my cup of tea“, but added “if they reach, let’s say, 18 million records, like we did in the 1970s, then I am very happy.”
The Fratellis are set to take Half Drunk Under A New Moon on the road soon, with eight dates pencilled in for the autumn ahead of an official UK Tour in 2022. Their current schedule of shows is as follows:
03/09/21 – La Belle Angele – Edinburgh
10/09 – The 1865 – Southampton
11/09 – Pryzm – Kingston-upon-Thames
12/09 – Sheffield Academy – Sheffield
17/09 – Komedia – Bath
18/09 – Junction – Cambridge
23/09 – Beat Generator – Dundee
24/09 – Rutherglen Town Hall – Rutherglen
18/03/22 – Academy – Manchester
19/03 – Academy – Oxford
20/03 – Academy – Bristol
22/03 – Tramshed – Cardiff
24/03 – Barrowland – Glasgow
25/03 – Barrowland – Glasgow
27/03 – Hull University – Hull
29/03 – City Hall – Newcastle
30/03 – Academy – Leeds
31/03 – Academy – Liverpool
02/04 – UEA – Norwich
04/04 – Rock City – Nottingham
05/04 – Forum – London
06/04 – Academy – Birmingham
