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

Our new single ‘Need a Little Love’, is out now! Taken from our new album, out April 9th >> https://t.co/NkJkhMbC0r pic.twitter.com/Qtam1lH8vz

— The Fratellis (@TheFratellis) February 12, 2021

In a statement shared with Stereoboard, Jon Fratelli says “‘Need A Little Love’ feels like the purest pop song we’ve ever written. It’s the kind of song you don’t need to second guess or squint at and the whole story is pretty much contained in the opening few bars. It was written unashamedly from the twisted heart of a hopeful romantic.”

The video for the track, directed by renowned photographer David Eustace, was filmed at Edinburgh’s historic Leith Theatre prior to the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020. The venue also played host to fellow Scots Teenage Fanclub last November; serving as the backdrop to their promo for Home.

Need A Little Love provides fans with their third taster of what to expect from The Fratellis’ sixth studio album, which is due out on Cooking Vinyl on April 9th. The new track follows in the footsteps of lead single Six Days In June – a similarly brass-tinged singalong number with hints of influence from Neil Diamond and Tamla Motown – and Action Replay, a lilting ballad with the sort of sweeping, dreamlike quality you might associate with Alex Turner’s Submarine soundtrack.

In an interview with The Scotsman last week, Jon Fratelli reflected on the band’s striking sonic evolution. Fratelli said “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.”

The band – whose landmark debut album Costello Music went triple-platinum back in 2006 – are hopeful of getting back out on the road in 2021, although they have already been forced to postpone their January-February North American tour. In an interview with Playground last year, Jon Fratelli said: “I think by the time we’re able to play live again it’ll probably be three years since we last did a full tour so at first, I’ll just be curious to see if we can still do it! I find having some new songs to play gives you a spring in your step which has an effect on the whole live set. It can bring older songs to life in a way that makes the whole thing even more enjoyable so I’m looking forward to having that experience again. Also, I think that when people are allowed to go to shows again there’ll probably an outpouring of enthusiasm that I’m looking forward to getting caught up in.”

The current list of dates for The Fratellis’ 2021 UK tour (subject to restrictions being lifted) is as follows:

21/04/2021 – O2 Academy – Leeds
22/04 – Academy – Manchester
23/04 – 02 Academy – Oxford
25/04 – Tramshed – Cardiff
26/04 – UEA – Norwich
27/04 – 02 Forum Kentish Town – London
29/04 – Barrowland – Glasgow (Sold Out)
30/04 – Barrowland – Glasgow
04/05 – Rock City – Nottingham
05/05 – 02 Academy – Bristol
07/05 – 02 Academy – Newcastle
08/05 – 02 Academy – Liverpool
10/05 – Uni Asylum – Hull
11/05 – 02 Academy – Birmingham

Don’t go oot, stay in and watch our free live stream this 28/29 November.

Sign up to the guest list here >> https://t.co/gOOZWqUfLz pic.twitter.com/9J2NZbEluT

— The Fratellis (@TheFratellis) November 21, 2020

The special show is a precursor to the band’s upcoming sixth studio album Half Drunk Under a Full Moon, which is due to hit shelves on April 9th 2021. The new LP – the successor to 2018’s In Your Own Sweet Time – had been set for release this year, but much like the group’s planned UK and North American tours, it was scuppered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Glasgwegian outfit have already given fans a taster of what to expect from the new record in the form of lead single Six Days in June, which was released in the summer. The track demonstrated the trio’s continued knack for a singalong melody fourteen years on from their much-loved debut album Costello Music; albeit with a sonic feel more influenced by the brassy pop of Motown and Neil Diamond than the folksy, garage-rock sound that heralded their arrival onto the scene back in 2006.

Earlier this year the band also released another new track, Strangers In The Street, with Los Angeles soul songstress P.P. Arnold. All of their income from the number was donated to Spotify’s COVID-19 Music Relief Project in aid of frontline workers financially impacted by the global shutdown. Frontman Jon Fratelli told Broadway World that Arnold – who first rose to prominence with her rendition of Cat Stevens’ classic The First Cut Is The Deepest in 1967 – was a perfect fit for the song.

He said: “I think this collaboration is a perfect example of how music communicates in a way that sets it apart from other mediums. Even now as this song is being released the band and P.P. Arnold have never been in the same room together or had a discussion about how the track would play out, our work took place whilst miles apart yet we understood one another perfectly, in its own small way it’s an example of our endless ability to connect with one another even when it seems like there are obstacles in the way. P.P. Arnold has one of those rare voices that can’t be imitated, replicated or taught so it has been a joy and an honour for us to have her sing with us on this song.”

The Fratellis have announced an amended schedule of dates for their rearranged UK tour, with fourteen dates pencilled in for next April and May. The Scots will also appear at the Teddy Rocks Festival in Blandford Forum, Dorset, on May 2nd 2021.

In an interview with The Playground in June this year, Jon Fratelli spoke of the band’s yearning to get back on the stage. He said “I think by the time we’re able to play live again it’ll probably be three years since we last did a full tour so at first, I’ll just be curious to see if we can still do it! I find having some new songs to play gives you a spring in your step which has an effect on the whole live set. It can bring older songs to life in a way that makes the whole thing even more enjoyable so I’m looking forward to having that experience again. Also, I think that when people are allowed to go to shows again there’ll probably an outpouring of enthusiasm that I’m looking forward to getting caught up in.”

The current list of dates for The Fratellis’ 2021 UK tour is as follows:

21/04/2021 – O2 Academy, Leeds
22/04 – Academy, Manchester
23/04 – 02 Academy, Oxford
25/04 – Tramshed, Cardiff
26/04 – UEA, Norwich
27/04 – 02 Forum Kentish Town, London
29/04 – Barrowland, Glasgow (Sold Out)
30/04 – Barrowland, Glasgow
04/05 – Rock City, Nottingham
05/05 – 02 Academy, Bristol
07/05 – 02 Academy, Newcastle
08/05 – 02 Academy, Liverpool
10/05 – Uni Asylum, Hull
11/05 – 02 Academy, Birmingham