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'We've Had More Good Fortune Than We Deserve': Jon Fratelli On The Fratellis & New Song 'Strangers In The Street'

(CBS Local)-- Jon Fratelli and his Scottish rock band The Fratellis have been frequent visitors to the Los Angeles over the years to record and perform their music.

While live concerts are on hiatus in Los Angeles until further notice, groups like The Fratellis are creating new music to provide an escape and also support COVID-19 relief efforts. The band's new track "Strangers In The Street" is out now and features soul icon P.P. Arnold. 100% of the band's income from this song will go towards Spotify's COVID-19 Music Relief Project to support frontline workers financially impacted by the global shutdown.

"I loved the sound and we had that song already. We had recorded it for the record that should've come out this month, which has been put back now," said Fratelli in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "The style of the song was crying out for P.P. Arnold. We had a little bit of trouble putting it together. We had people from four different locations and we manged to put it together pretty well. It will resonate with anyone who has had their heart broken. It may apply to now, but I think more generally than that."

"Strangers In The Street" is streaming now on all major music platforms. The Fratellis have been together since 2005 and in that time the band has produced five studio albums, with their sixth called "Half Drunk Under A Full Moon" coming out later this year. The Scottish band is best known in America for its smash hit "Chelsea Dagger," which Fratelli still can't believe became as big it did.

"It's been fast. It's incredible how quickly these things go," said Fratelli. "We've professionally been a band for 15 years and it's gone by so quickly. It's very hard to hold on to details in terms of memory. On the whole, it's been pretty good fun. We've had more good fortune than we deserve and we got what we wanted. All we ever wanted was to be able to do what we get to do. It's a fairly privileged place to be and we can't do anything else. I remember thinking it [Chelsea Dagger] was not that special and thought people wouldn't pick up on it. That's kind of still the case. There was this period where we heard more and more that the song was being used here, there and everywhere. There was a certain point where it felt like where is it not being played because it was so consistent. I won't argue with it and I don't have to think it's the greatest song in the world to know how helpful it's been. My 15-year-old self would think it's pretty damn cool."

Watch all of DJ Sixsmith's interviews from "The Sit-Down" series here.

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