Late Fees - I Bet

Written By David Dryburgh
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Formed in 2019 behind the service counter of a Glasgow cafe, Late Fees are three friends, Andrew Gordon (guitar/vocals), Michael Hamilton (bass/vocals) and Jack Mackenzie (drums/vocals).

Late Fees take inspiration from Scottish staples like Teenage Fanclub and Camera Obscura as well as modern indie acts like Car Seat Headrest and Jay Som.

They release their debut single I Bet today, Friday 16 October. Although demoed in Glasgow at the beginning of 2019, I Bet was recorded during lockdown while Andrew was living and working in Japan, an ironic turn of events for a song whose lyrics reference being "on the other side of the world". Production was handled by Michael, who has also written and produced music for Glasgow based poet Imogen Stirling and released a number of albums under his own name. 

I Bet is a jangly guitar number, it’s got a fantastic catchy melody, that creates a bit of familiarity of past Scottish pop bands whilst carving its own distinct beat.

It’s a track that sings of days gone by, romances lost and nostalgia and that majestic melody helps envoke those feelings as do the brilliantly written lyrics.

I love the verse that I guess describes memories of a lost relationship when they sing “but that street you drew with such finesse I find I cross it less and less, they can take this city out of you but you'll still haunt this neighbourhood 
and you always will”.

And the chorus is a real ear worm, it stays with you and leaves a lasting impression with the words “but do you ever think about it at all and does it ever even cross your mind, it’s funny how a couple trips around the sun can feel like a lifetime”.

I Bet is a great introduction to Late Fees and sets a high bar for future releases as this is a fantastic debut single, great melodies and thought provoking words make me want to play this on repeat.

The good news is that they are currently working on some other singles so hopefully we’ll get a chance to hear more from these promising newcomers in the not too distant future.

Give I Bet a stream now:

https://open.spotify.com/album/2nQKYD4e9Ow1grzIuPVlGz?si=rtwuXca8Q7mtSRSK2hBc6w

The accompanying video juxtaposes photographs and videos of Scotland and Japan taken by the band from their respective sides of the globe, watch it below:

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David Dryburgh
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