Fatal Mistakes is the seventh studio album by the Scottish band Del Amitri, released on 28 May 2021.[13] It is the band's first studio album since 2002's Can You Do Me Good. It debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart in the first week following its release.[14]

Fatal Mistakes
Studio album by
Released28 May 2021
RecordedMarch 2020
StudioVada Studios, Warwickshire
GenreRock
Length45:52
LabelCooking Vinyl
ProducerDan Austin
Del Amitri chronology
Can You Do Me Good?
(2002)
Fatal Mistakes
(2021)
Singles from Fatal Mistakes
  1. "Close Your Eyes and Think of England"
    Released: November 2020[1]
  2. "It's Feelings"
    Released: February 2021[2]
  3. "You Can't Go Back"
    Released: April 2021[3]
  4. "All Hail Blind Love"
    Released: August 2021[4]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
American Songwriter[6]
Classic Rock[7]
Hooks and Harmony[8]
Maximum Volume Music9/10[9]
Mojo[10]
Outline10/10[11]
The Telegraph[12]

Background

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Del Amitri reformed in 2014 after a ten year hiatus. Initially the band thought that fans did not want unreleased material, choosing to play only previously released songs during the 2014 tour. Singer Justin Currie was hesitant to release an album of new songs saying "we thought that's probably not what anyone is going to want to listen to".[15]

By 2018, Currie and guitarist Iain Harvie had created finished songs that sounded "very Del Amitri".[16] The two reformed the band with the lineup featured on 2014's live release Into the Mirror: Del Amitri in Concert, with keyboardist Andy Alston, guitarist Kris Dollimore and drummer Ash Soan.

Fatal Mistakes was recorded in March 2020 over a three-week period, with Del Amitri completing the sessions the day before the UK locked down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17] Initially scheduled for release on 30 April 2021, the release date was moved to 28 May 2021 because of pandemic-related production delays.[18]

Track listing

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All songs written by Justin Currie, except where noted.

  1. "You Can't Go Back" – 2:53
  2. "All Hail Blind Love" (Currie, Iain Harvie) – 4:04
  3. "Musicians and Beer" – 2:46
  4. "Close Your Eyes and Think of England" – 3:30
  5. "Losing the Will to Die" – 2:34
  6. "Otherwise" – 3:01
  7. "It's Feelings" (Currie, Harvie) – 2:42
  8. "I'm So Scared of Dying" – 4:27
  9. "Mockingbird, Copy Me Now" (Currie, Kris Dollimore) – 2:23
  10. "Missing Person" – 3:19
  11. "Second Staircase" – 3:00
  12. "Lonely" (Currie, Harvie) – 3:28
  13. "Nation of Caners" – 7:39

Fatal Mistakes – Outtakes and B-Sides

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A five-track bonus CD titled Fatal Mistakes – Outtakes and B-Sides was initially available for a limited period as a companion piece to Fatal Mistakes on 28 May 2021.[19] It was reissued with five additional tracks on 12 August 2022.[20]

"When Cooking Vinyl asked us to supply material for a bonus CD to go with the various Fatal Mistakes packages, we seized the chance to resurrect the B-Side. We knew we had at least ten tunes written for the album that didn't make it into the final sequence," Del Amitri said in a press release. Two of the tracks, "Lips of London" and "Gone In a Second," were recorded during the March 2020 album session, while the rest were written for the project and recorded remotely during the COVID-19 lockdown of winter 2021.[20]

Track listing

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All songs written by Justin Currie, except where noted.

Original 2021 five-track release
  1. "Happiness Is It" – 2:11
  2. "Gone in a Second" (Currie, Harvie) – 4:06
  3. "Shame" – 3:46
  4. "O My Lazy Baby" – 2:43
  5. "Some Mothers Do Have Them" – 2:11
2022 ten-track reissue
  1. "Lips of London"
  2. "Gone in A Second" (Currie, Harvie)
  3. "Shame"
  4. "Your Love (Is Killing Me)"
  5. "This City Loves You Back" (Currie, Harvie)
  6. "Some Mothers Do Have Them"
  7. "Happiness Is It"
  8. "O My Lazy Baby"
  9. "My Adulthood"
  10. "At the End of the Lightning"

Personnel

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Credits adapted from the album liner notes.[21][22]

Del Amitri
Technical
  • Dan Austin – producer, mixing
  • The Groovey Tubes – producer (Fatal Mistakes – Outtakes and B-Sides, except "Gone in A Second" and "Lips of London")
  • Paul McGeechan – mastering
  • Gary Birchard – photography

Charts

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Chart performance for Fatal Mistakes
Chart (2021) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 34
Scottish Albums (OCC)[24] 2
Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 9
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 20
UK Albums (OCC)[14] 5
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[27] 2

References

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  1. ^ "Del Amitri's new album 'Fatal Mistakes' to be released April 30th". V2. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  2. ^ Ley, Ken (4 March 2021). "Del Amitri to push release of 2021 album". latebar.org. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  3. ^ "'You Can't Go Back' the new single from Del Amitri". TotalNtertainment. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  4. ^ "All Hail Blind Love (Single Version)". music.apple.com. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Fatal Mistakes by Del Amitri Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  6. ^ Zimmerman, Lee (28 April 2021). "Review: Del Amitri Avoided Making 'Fatal Mistakes' On New Album". American Songwriter. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Classic Rock magazine review". Classic Rock. June 2021. p. 80.
  8. ^ Lee, Peter (30 May 2021). "Fatal Mistakes – Del Amitri (Album Review)". Hooks and Harmony. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  9. ^ Thorley, Andy (13 June 2021). "Review: Del Amitri – Fatal Mistakes (2021)". Maximum Volume Music. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  10. ^ Farber, Jim (June 2021). "Mojo magazine review". Mojo. p. 87.
  11. ^ Seymour, Jon (28 May 2021). "Del Amitri - Fatal Mistakes". Outline. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  12. ^ McCormick, Neil (27 May 2021). "On Fatal Mistakes, Del Amitri return to the vicious, beery rock music of yesteryear". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  13. ^ Official Del Amitri website Fatal Mistakes New Release Date.
  14. ^ a b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Del Amitri head to Essex - but Justin Currie thought new album was a 'stupid' idea". InYourArea.co.uk. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Del Amitri roll back the years with new single It's Feelings ahead of first album in 19 years |". 20 February 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Del Amitri Announce New Album 'Fatal Mistakes' | mxdwn.co.uk". Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Due to unavoidable issues regarding production relating to the pandemic, Del Amitri's new album 'Fatal Mistakes' has been moved to May 28th 2021". Twitter. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Del Amitri's new album Fatal Mistakes out today". V2. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Del Amitri - Fatal Mistakes". Townsend Music. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  21. ^ Fatal Mistakes (Media notes). Del Amitri. Cooking Vinyl. 2021.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. ^ Fatal Mistakes – Outtakes and B-Sides (Media notes). Del Amitri. Cooking Vinyl. 2022.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Del Amitri – Fatal Mistakes" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  24. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  25. ^ "Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 22" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  26. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Del Amitri – Fatal Mistakes". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 June 2021.