Belle and Sebastian – A Bit of Previous
Their ninth album A Bit of Previous suggests Belle and Sebastian still have enough hooks to last several lifetimes
Since their last studio album in 2015, Belle and Sebastian have developed an impressive list in side hustles, from The Boaty Weekender, their foray into Mediterranean cruises, to frontman Stuart Murdoch’s weekly guided online meditation sessions. Murdoch’s interest in Buddhism bubbles under the surface of their ninth album A Bit of Previous – even its title seems like a Scottish take on reincarnation – but it’s also the first album the band have recorded in their hometown of Glasgow in over 20 years, after plans to fly to Los Angeles in the spring of 2019 were scrapped due to the pandemic.
This self sufficiency plays to the band’s strengths. Almost three decades into their career they seem as tightly knit as ever, and this bond manifests itself in a wide-ranging suite of songs that tackle everything from country to synth-pop, as if they’re happy to mosey down every new avenue that anyone proposes. Second single If They’re Shooting At You turns a wistful aphorism into a massed vocal chant while Talk To Me, Talk To Me bounces along on a fizzed up guitar track and some sweet trading of vocals between Murdoch and Sarah Martin.
These songs are pretty clear in their politics, with slick 80s synth-pop deployed in service of raging against street danger on Reclaim the Night, and even the gentle Come On Home packs a progressive edge as Murdoch sings: 'Give a chance to the old / Set the record straight on the welfare state / Give a chance to the young / Everyone deserves a life in the sun'.
There’s nothing quite as good as late-career-standout Nobody’s Empire from 2015’s Girls In Peacetime Want to Dance, but if you’ve ever found solace in a Murdoch-penned song before, you’ll likely find something to enjoy in tracks like the fingerpicked late-Velvets/Lou Reed vibes of Do It For Your Country or the bouncing harmonica of Unnecessary Drama. In fact, while non-Murdoch B&S songs have often been the band’s weaker material, on A Bit of Previous Stevie Jackson’s countrified Deathbed of My Dreams has a winning charm to it.
More than simply aging gracefully, A Bit of Previous suggests Belle and Sebastian still have enough hooks for several lifetimes.
Listen to: If They're Shooting At You; Talk To Me, Talk To Me; Unnecessary Drama