Getting Closer To The Goal

The Life Pursuit - Belle And Sebastian [Rough Trade]


Things have sure changed in the Belle And Sebastian camp since the release od their full scale debut 'If You're Feeling Sinister' in 1996. Isobel Campbell has left (and last week released Ballad Of The Broken Seas wuth Mark Lanegan, which I'll review as soon as I can afford it) and others have joined giving the band a much different dynamic. After 2000's transitional 'Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant' (a bit like this seasons Arsenal, still got it in patches but lacking a leading influence) it looked like maybe the band had reached the end but smashed back into the consious with their critically acclamied 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress', a big pop album which took them further away from the tweeness of their earlier records. However, as their full performance of 'Sinister' at the Barbican last September showed, this is a band finally at comfort with their past, yet also striving for a different future.

So a good time to release their sixth full scale album (7th if you count the soundtrack LP 'Storytelling') and move onward again. This time the pop sensibilites of 'DCW' have been complimented by a strong soul influence, particularly Northern Soul. This results in a slightly funkier collection thn previously, if lacking, in areas, the energy and charm of 'DCW.' Murdoch's songwriting is as strong as ever, though his voice suffers from not fitting into the 'soulful' troubadour mould as easily as the 'twee' troubadour mode of yore, though he gradual adapts to it over the course of the record. Particular highlights include 'Sukie In The Graveyard' and first single, 'Funny Little Frog' but as a whole the songs here are consistently of a higer quality of any record since 'Sinister' if not quite matching the peaks of 'DCW' in terms of one off tracks - there's nothing with the commercial dancing charm of 'I'm A Cuckoo' for ecample.

So, overall, a cracker of a record that, whilst not up to 2003's Dear Catastrophe Waitress's' ridiculousless high standards is still going to be in ANYONE WITH EARS top 10 records of the year. Enthralling, interesting and an evolution of one of the finest bands of the last 20 years this is recommended to anyone with even the slightest interest in indie.

8/10 - Very Good