release date: Feb. 15; 2019
format: digital (9 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,55]
producer: Jon Fratelli, Stuart McCredie
label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: Scotland, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Serenade in Vain" - 3. "After a While" - 5. "Rolling By" - 7. "Dreams Don’t Remember Your Name" - 9. "Somewhere"
2nd solo album from The Fratellis front figure Jon Fratelli (aka John Paul Lawler) as his solo follow-up to Psycho Jukebox (Jul. 2011) may follow 7½ years later but it's a bit of a difficult situation thinking Jon's solo releases represent something different from what he makes with the band - partly because in The Fratellis, he's the only songssmith of the band, he mostly stands as only composer, and he delivers the songs as lead vocalist accompagnied by his lead guitar or keyboard notes, and then also because the music by the trio hasn't exactly been a one-dimensional soundscape but it has changed considerably over its five studio releases. And whether Jonn has been in front of the band, representing one half of the duo-project Codeine Velvet Club, or delivering his own songs entirely on his own, the music blends, loans, and make up a whole that is the product by John Paul Lawler. He obviously enjoys baroque pop, power pop, glam rock, garage rock, and appears to have been influenced by American singer / songwriters of various eras, and that may be found on the music he produces. His first solo attempt from 2011 sounded much like a blend of The Fratellis as they came out on the debut Costello Music (2006) with hints from the more orchestrated follow-up Here We Stand (2008). With Codeine Velvet Club (2009) he revealed his love for baroque pop, and then followed three more albums with The Fratellis that both show various stylistic variations and in a way sums up the big pond from where he's musically influenced. All that history sort of lays a foundation to Bright Night Flowers, although, it fits perfectly in Lawler's musical influences, it nevertheless reveals a new side to his many statements so far by being more soft rock -or ballad-oriented with music inspired by an American songwriter tradition, I think. It's not far from what the albums Codeine Velvet Club, Here We Stand, and Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied (2015) indicated. There's like a deeper layer to his songs with themes that he attempts to ellaborate on instead of building music on sing-a-long catch-phrases and tickling guitar-hooks. In that way, he does remind me of how Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys stood out as someone with more substantial things on his mind. That said, there's something more traditional to the music of Lawler, who focuses more directly on the strengths of his stories than what could have been a way to produce new music that blends almost anything. In that respect, Lawler stays on secure musical roads where others may have been but he nevertheless exells with his fine vocal and delicate touch with a handful of melancholic songs that may grow on you when given enough attention.
Don't expect The Fratellis' hooks or energy. It's not something revolutionary but more a quite traditional
menu with glimpses of beauty.
