Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It seems everything we do today is dictated by the push of the clock, we are in the grip of chaos to beat deadlines at an ever more consuming rate, we are pushed to the point of breaking and then people wonder why the robot you have become, suddenly starts to break down, the odd bit of snapping back occurs and the ever increasing heart rate becomes a dawning of realisations, that in the end you should have done it all In Your Own Sweet Time.
The clock is a master driven by Time, owned by no one in particular but everybody has an opinion on how it should be spent, this false construct to keep the world and Universe turning has no truck with the premise of individualism and growth and yet we all strive to confound and confuse it, we find ways to beat the clock but not in the way Time demands but by pushing it back, our own sweet rebellion in a world consumed by the tick and the tock.
It is in the rebellion of not standing still, of moving forward despite the urge to always perform what everybody else wants which makes the latest release by The Fratellis stand out in a way that might have been thought impossible, not daring to be seen, when they first crashed headlong and with utter beauty in their debut album Costello Music.
Time moves on, and so too does the sound, what may have been Time’s favourite soon changes and it is more than agreeable and considerate to stop what you are doing and take in the new reflection, a new pace, a more contemporary feel, without betraying your own personal beliefs or original stance, then In Your Own Sweet Time is to be seen as the beauty as it progresses, holding back the clock’s minutes but allowing it to chime louder than Big Ben at Midnight.
In songs such as Starcrossed Losers, The Next Time We Wed, Laughing Gas, I Guess…I Suppose and I Am That, The Fratellis have taken their staple energetic and profound beginnings and stepped up another level. They have not rushed and been reckless to the clamour of more, they have instead grown, taken the wonderful sound they inhabited in earlier albums and added more mood, a harder edge, whilst still having the ability to retain that sincere cheeky glint in the eye and the sense of humour which propelled you to the hearts of many in the first place.
An album worth waiting for, and one that is a gift to the fans as they heed the words and warnings of In Your Own Sweet Time!
Ian D. Hall