| Straight off the back of the last Fratellis album, Jon’s solo material displays a more down-tempo melodic side to his song writing and with echoes of Glen Campbell, Roy Orbison and even Tom Waits. This perfectly-assembled, finely-wrought, nine-track album showcases something very special from his art.
Soul-noir, country gothic, The Big ‘O’ meets The Big Easy, the Heart of Saturday Night meets the West End of Glasgow… Call it what you will, Jon’s second solo ‘joint’ is a little masterpiece and a refreshing change of pace from his previous work.
Jon talks about the making of the album by saying “Almost all of these songs were written on the piano, which is fairly obvious on first listen. It seemed like the most natural counterpoint to the last album: to move away from fairly loud and colorful songs – some of which were built from mash ups of various ideas – to something gentle that rolled with a bit more fluidity.”
“I’d describe this album as playful as well, actually,” he says with a smile. “Heartbreak and emotional pain can also be playful when you know that they’re not to be taken too seriously. Equally, you can’t know pleasure without its opposite. In that respect, black is equally as joyful as white. Life would be very dull if happiness was the only experience, wouldn’t it?” |
