Scottish singer/guitarist
Jon Fratelli first came to prominence as frontman of unruly indie rock trio
the Fratellis before embarking on a series of side projects in the late noughties. Splitting time between
the Fratellis' jagged garage punk and the loungey duo
Codeine Velvet Club, he embarked on a concurrent solo career in 2011 with
Psycho Jukebox. After an eight-year span that saw three more band releases,
Fratelli returned to solo work in 2019 with the lusher, more introspective
Bright Night Flowers.
Born John Paul Lawler in Glasgow in 1979, he independently released a
Bob Dylan-esque debut album, Free Urban Clown, under his own name before forming
the Fratellis with Barry Wallace and Gordon McRory in 2005. The band scored a huge hit with "Chelsea Dagger" and its parent album,
Costello Music and won a Brit Award for Best British Newcomer. After an appearance at the Coachella Festival, however,
Fratelli temporarily left the band, unable to deal with the pressures of touring. Following their 2008 sophomore album
Here We Stand, the three-piece announced a hiatus, and
Fratelli teamed up with burlesque club singer Lou Hickey to form lounge-pop outfit
Codeine Velvet Club. After performing their swan song in Japan, the pair parted ways and
Fratelli began work on a solo effort with producer Tony Hoffer (
Depeche Mode). The resulting album,
Psycho Jukebox, was released on Island in 2011.
Following its release,
Fratelli started to record the follow-up,
Bright Night Flowers. With
the Fratellis again being his main focus -- they released three albums, 2013's
We Need Medicine, 2015's
Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied, and 2018's
In Your Own Sweet Time, in the interim -- the album was put on hold. In the summer of 2018,
Fratelli re-recorded the album with Stuart McCredie (
Simple Minds, Belle & Sebastian) in the producers' chair, with the result issued on Cooking Vinyl at the beginning of 2019. ~ Jon O'Brien