In 2021, Del Amitri made a triumphant return with ‘Fatal Mistakes’, their first new studio album in almost twenty years. Debuting at #5 – their highest chart position since 1995 – the consensus of the album’s critical acclaim was that the band’s songwriting contains everything that fans adored the first time around.
Yet another surprise soon followed with the news that Del Amitri had another album’s worth of material nearing release. That moment is now upon us as Del Amitri today release ‘Fatal Mistakes: Outtakes & B-Sides’ via Cooking Vinyl, along with the new single ‘Lips Of London’.
‘FATAL MISTAKES: OUTTAKES & B-SIDES’ IS OUT NOW – LISTEN HERE
This companion piece project started when Cooking Vinyl asked the band to submit some material for a bonus CD to accompany select bundles of the ‘Fatal Mistakes’ album. It reminded Del Amitri of the creative freedom that the commercial demands of the format wars of the ‘90s allowed – a process which resulted in fans discovering a host of relatively unheard favourites, some of which were compiled on the ‘Lousy With Love’ album. All ten songs included here were written as contenders for ‘Fatal Mistakes’. ‘Lips Of London’ and ‘Gone In A Second’ were recorded and mixed during the original album sessions, and the rest were recorded remotely during the winter lockdown of 2021.
Frontman Justin Currie says, “These tracks were never also-rans but main contenders for whom time and money proved enemies. They were all written and selected for ‘Fatal Mistakes’ and are presented here as a part of that total. They are not the underside, they are the next village over; a sunny place with a bowling club and a church that’s been repurposed as a carpet warehouse. It’s become somewhere we increasingly love to visit.”
Appropriately enough, the album’s new single ‘Lips Of London’ detours from the band’s home of Glasgow and yet it would’ve felt entirely at home within ‘Fatal Mistakes’. It’s a straight-to-the-point power pop song, characterised by its ragged opening riff, flourishes of organ and a classic Dels hook that takes just one listen to implant itself forever in your memory. Lyrically it’s a postcard of Justin’s thoughts on London: a city with an urban sprawl so vast that it can make people feel immensely important or completely invisible.
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