The Fratellis
In Your Own Sweet Time

THE REVIEW

The fifth overall album and third since the 2012 reunion, "In Your Own Sweet Time" is the new work by the Scottish indie band The Fratellis.

Known to most for the superhits "Chelsea Dagger," "Whistle For The Choir," and "Flathead," all taken from the phenomenally successful debut "Costello Music" (which seemed to have launched them into the starry sky of the UK with a million records sold in the UK alone), the three experienced a constant commercial decline that led them to disband in 2009. Things have been on the rise since the reunion three years later; after a largely ignored album, the fourth work "Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied" repositioned them in the British top 20, thanks also to the return of producer Tony Hoffer who had worked with them in their highly successful debut.

"In Your Own Sweet Time" is a good album. Very varied, bordering on schizophrenia, yet featuring a good number of melodies that hit the mark. "Stand Up Comedy" opens in full Fratellis style, but already from the next "Starcrossed Losers" the change of pace is evident, and we find ourselves facing a rock ‘n roll in full sixties style, enriched by spot-on choruses.

The sixties make a return here and there throughout the entire tracklist (like in the frenetic and fun "Laughing Gas," starting with its perfectly fitting title), alternated with even more retro fascinations ("Sugartown," Buddy Holly to the core). There's also time for a splash of modernity, as in the excellent first single "The Next Time We Wed," dominated by subtle electronic inserts, or in "I've Been Blind," which recalls The Killers of the underrated "Battle Born."

The spontaneous return to the origins of "I Guess… I Suppose" also works quite well, a garage rock that could very well be an outtake from "Costello Music," before closing with the rock opera ambitions of the excellent "I Am That," very interesting for the future.

"In Your Own Sweet Time" is a decent return to good form for the Scottish trio.

Best track: I Am That