JON FRATELLI,S DEBUT SOLO ALBUM “PSYCHO JUKEBOX”

Jon Fratelli’s debut solo album Psycho Jukebox will be released on the Island label on July 25th ’11. Like any jukebox worth its salt it’s chock full of the kind of solid gold easy action that makes you want to smile, chant, dance, sing, drum, shout, and throw the windows wide to annoy the neighbours. Psycho Jukebox marks something of a new beginning for one of Scotland’s most prolific and talented songwriters. Psycho Jukebox was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Tony Hoffer (Beck , Air, Depeche Mode), who first worked with Jon in 2006 on The Fratellis’ debut album, Costello Music, which spawned the rousing, witty hits ‘Chelsea Dagger’, ‘Henrietta’ and ‘Flathead’ which established The Fratellis’ reputation as a band with crunching, dynamic rock songs, clever lyrics populated with intriguing, Kinks-y characters, and an uncommonly sharp ear for melody. When touring for second Frats album Here We Stand ended in 2008, the band took a much-needed break, and Jon threw himself into Codeine Velvet Club with burlesque singer Lou Hickey. All the while Jon had been amassing a collection of new songs, ranging from the crisp, raucous ’60s pop of “She’s My Shaker” and “King Of Rock’n’Roll”, to the classic American songbook rock of “Daddy Won’t Pay Your Bill” and “The Band Played Just For Me”. Other tracks, such as “Oh Shangri La” and “Don’t Make Me Close My Eyes” have a twinkling, late-night mood, a result of Fratelli’s penchant for writing into the wee small hours. Fratelli decided to retain the musicians he worked with in Codeine Velvet Club, including keyboard player Will Foster and bassist Lewis Gordon. The band arrived in Los Angeles in October, and began work at The Sound Factory – an old ’60s and ’70s haunt frequented by the likes of Brian Wilson, The Righteous Brothers, Linda Ronstadt and The Jackson 5. The resulting album is brimful of melody, pop-psychedelia, classic ’60s-tinged pop, and characters whose lives are lived in a twilight world of ambition and failure, triumph and loss.“This is the best collection of songs I’ve written,” says Fratelli. “I think these songs will make sense to people who liked The Fratellis, but I try not to over-think things. It’s all part of the same thing to me, making music.”
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