The return of Del Amitri gathers pace as they release their new single ‘It’s Feelings’. The single previews their forthcoming album ‘Fatal Mistakes’, which will be their first studio album in 19 years when it’s released on May 14th. The band announced the album alongside the track ‘Close Your Eyes and Think of England’ before performing live on Children in Need Scotland later that same day.
Produced by Dan Austin, (Biffy Clyro, You Me At Six), ‘It’s Feelings’ captures the band’s inimitable flair for crafting melodic rock songs with lyrical bite, soulful comfort and heart-swelling uplift. Frontman Justin Currie’s soulful rasp resonates within the song’s towering hook, which is backed by a fresh take on their ‘90s alternative radio vibe. As with many of the band’s most famous moments, ‘It’s Feelings’ was written by Currie and guitarist Iain Harvie, with mixing courtesy of their long-term collaborator Mark Freegard.
Currie commented, “It’s a simple fact that human beings have no idea what makes them feel the way they do. Their feelings are often guided by instinct, which means that their actions aren’t always rational. Listening to new music is similar. You can explain what’s good or bad about a song, but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t feel it.”
The song’s emotional punch is reflected in its forthcoming accompanying video, which was directed by Stuart Breadner for Shootback (The LaFontaines, Seafret). It opens by showing a man waiting anxiously as his friend lays unconscious in hospital. It cuts to an alternate reality in which the stricken man is alert and moving, but he constantly faces symbolic frustration: a locked lighthouse, a bridge that leads nowhere. Instead he braves a final swim to shore, resulting in a closing shot that blurs the boundaries between the two words.
‘It’s Feelings’ provides a fresh taste for what to expect from the long-awaited ‘Fatal Mistakes’. It presents the brilliant sound of a 35-years-young band doing what they do best. And just like when they released their breakthrough album ‘Waking Hours’, it feels that it’s a style that only Del Amitri are doing right now.
You can hear that in the state-of-the-nation lament of ‘Close Your Eyes And Think of England’. And it resonates in the driving power-pop of the album opener ‘You Can’t Go Back’. In counterpoint is the skeletal, aching ‘Lonely’, a song that echoes with emptiness and is flecked with CSNY-style harmonies, and yet feels quite unlike anything they’ve recorded before.
Del Amitri will celebrate the album’s release by playing a special streamed show, details of which will be announced soon. They also hope to be able to confirm an extensive UK tour later this year.
Throughout their first chapter, Del Amitri released a succession of hits – including ‘Nothing Ever Happens’, ‘Always The Last To Know’ and ‘Roll To Me’ – which became international radio staples, propelling a career that accomplished five UK Top 10 albums and 6 million sales.
Having first reunited for a sold-out UK tour in 2014, the band’s core duo started writing material ahead of a second run of packed shows in 2018. They realised that, without forcing it, they had created a bunch of songs that sounded “very Del Amitri.”
Completed by Andy Alston (keys), Kris Dollimore (guitar) and Ash Soan (drums), Del Amitri recorded those songs in an entirely naturalistic approach: plugging in amps rather than booting up laptops, primarily playing to their strengths by recording live as a five-piece band.
‘Fatal Mistakes’ will be released on CD, vinyl and digital formats and is available to pre-order here. The Del Amitri official store offers a selection of exclusive formats including coloured vinyl, cassette and very limited test pressings. It also offers the five-track CD ‘Outtakes and B-Sides’, which features five unreleased tracks from the ‘Fatal Mistakes’ recording sessions.
