Album Review
It's easy to think of Belle and Sebastian as the Stuart Murdoch show. He's their main singer, their frontman, the guy who wrote everything on their first two albums and almost all the good stuff they've done since then; when the band started incorporating other members' songs and voices, they made a couple of dodgy records. But last year's God Help the Girl project-- songs from what seems to be an entirely hypothetical movie musical-- put the lie to the "Belle and Sebastian are both Stuart!" theory: even though Murdoch wrote all of it (and members of Belle and Sebastian played on it), it came off as a misstep, stagier and more ungainly than anything the parent band had ever done, mostly because it felt like the work of a revue-with-backup rather than an ensemble.
And they really are an ensemble, even now, after a nearly five-year break since The Life Pursuit. Playing as a group has always been one of their strengths; for a band that has an instantly recognizable sound (the first 12 seconds of "I Can See Your Future" or "Write About Love" might as well be someone yelling "THIS RIGHT HERE IS A SONG BY BELLE AND SEBASTIAN"), they have no particularly distinctive instrumentalists, just a finely developed sense of how to support each other's timbres and rhythms.
This time, they're integrating their voices into their collective sound, too. Murdoch's honey-ripple tenor appears, one way or another, on almost everything here, but it's not the first voice on the album: That belongs to Sarah Martin, whose opening imperative, "Make me dance/ I want to surrender," is, in its way, Murdoch's version of PJ Harvey's "Lick my legs/ I'm on fire." All over the album, the band's members and their guests harmonize with each other, trade off lines, sing in counterpoint. That's generally a great idea, with one prominent exception. Belle and Sebastian occasionally like to do the last thing you'd expect them to do: cover "Freak Scene", get produced by Trevor Horn, have ?uestlove sit in on drums. The sore thumb here is "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John", a torchy duet between Murdoch and Norah Jones, who seems to be trying to channel Dusty Springfield but ends up channeling, well, Norah Jones.
For the most part, though, Write About Love is a consolidation of Belle and Sebastian's strengths, rather than an expansion into new territory. Murdoch is still writing long, curly, elegant melodies-- "Come on Sister", in particular, is a magnificent piece of construction. He's still writing lyrics about a fraught but unshakeable relationship with Christianity: When he sings "I know the way/ Get on your skinny knees and pray," "Write About Love"'s guest singer Carey Mulligan chirps back, "Maybe not today," and the refrain of "The Ghost of Rockschool" namedrops God repeatedly. He's gotten a little cagier about telling stories and outlining characters in his lyrics, although a few of them vaguely allude to a breakup, and "Read the Blessed Pages" seems to be addressed to a former lover/bandmate. (That might be just another storytelling gambit: Murdoch's always fictionalized and mythologized the band's history in his songs, too.)
Musically, the band's settled into one of the modes they've repeatedly touched on in the past: a chiming, mod-inflected variation on early-70s AM pop. Stevie Jackson's showcase here, "I'm Not Living in the Real World", even incorporates multiple "truck-driver's gear-shift"-style upward key changes. There's nothing as adventurous as "Your Cover's Blown" (or as overreaching as "The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House") here-- nothing, in fact, that couldn't easily have descended from early songs like "The Stars of Track and Field" and "You're Just a Baby". Still, the album includes some of their smartest, most intricate arrangements ever. "I Didn't See It Coming" lives up to its title, quietly slipping in one instrumental detail after another until it's worked itself up into an enormous fugue.
Playing it cool might be the band's strategy with the album in general, too. Write About Love is a grower-- the sort of record you need to play repeatedly, listening to how it fits together, before it can really ingratiate itself. Belle and Sebastian have been making records this good, and very much in this vein, for a long time; the other mistake it's easy to make with them is taking their consistent excellence for granted.
— Douglas Wolk, October 11, 2010
- Avey Tare: Down There
- The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Orange / Acme
- Waka Flocka Flame: Flockaveli
- Liars: Live at Shepherds Bush Empire EP / Proud Evolution
- Bryan Ferry: Olympia
- Mount Eerie: Song Islands Vol. 2
- Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz
- Die Antwoord: $O$
- Small Black: New Chain
- Apparat: DJ-Kicks
- Cloud Nothings: Turning On / Leave You Forever
- John Lennon: Signature Box / Power to the People: The Hits
- Shugo Tokumaru: Port Entropy
- Dexys Midnight Runners: Searching for the Young Soul Rebels [30th Annivers
- Sun Airway: Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier
- Säkert!: Facit
- Ólöf Arnalds: Innundir Skinni
- Wyatt, Atzmon & Stephen: For the Ghosts Within
- Deerhunter: Halcyon Digest
- The Foreign Exchange: Authenticity
- Brian Eno: Small Craft on a Milk Sea
- Robert Wyatt: Reissues
- Dâm-Funk: Adolescent Funk
- Svarte Greiner: Penpals Forever (and Ever)
- Ghostland Observatory: Codename: Rondo
- Weezer: Pinkerton [Deluxe Edition] / Death to False Metal
- Matt & Kim: Sidewalks
- Earth: A Bureaucratic Desire for Extra-Capsular Extractio
- Vado: Slime Flu
- Houses: All Night
- Elliott Smith: An Introduction To...
- Kylesa: Spiral Shadow
- Violens: Amoral
- Silje Nes: Opticks
- Ski Beatz: 24 Hour Karate School
- !!!: Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass EP
- Gucci Mane: The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted
- David Sylvian: Sleepwalkers
- The War on Drugs: Future Weather EP
- Mice Parade: What It Means to Be Left-Handed
Recently
Album Reviews
- Brian Eno: Small Craft on a Milk Sea
- Robert Wyatt: Reissues
- Dâm-Funk: Adolescent Funk
- Svarte Greiner: Penpals Forever (and Ever)
- Ghostland Observatory: Codename: Rondo
The Playlist
Album Reviews
- Weezer: Pinkerton [Deluxe Edition] / Death to False Metal
- Matt & Kim: Sidewalks
- Earth: A Bureaucratic Desire for Extra-Capsular Extractio
- Vado: Slime Flu
- Houses: All Night
The Playlist
TV
Features
News
- Kanye Extends Olive Branch to George W. Bush
- Watch a Ridiculous Brian Eno Interview
- Damon Albarn Has Three Albums in the Works
- Yo La Tengo Plan Insane Concept Tour
- Video: Broken Bells Possess Hall and Oates
- Photos: Deakin / Omar Souleyman
- Pitchfork Seeks Editorial Interns in Chicago
- Listen: New Pains of Being Pure at Heart Single
- Interpol Extend North American Tour
- Watch: M.I.A. Performs With the Specials
Album Reviews
- Elliott Smith: An Introduction To...
- Kylesa: Spiral Shadow
- Violens: Amoral
- Silje Nes: Opticks
- Ski Beatz: 24 Hour Karate School
The Playlist
News
- UPDATE: Charges Dropped Against Gucci Mane
- Wolf Parade Release New Single
- Watch Broken Social Scene Play With Opera Singers
- Listen: Twin Shadow Remixes the Drums
- Tennis Announce Debut Album
- Low Do Christmas Shows, Work on New Album
- Cut Copy Reveal New Album
- The Decemberists Announce New Album
- Genesis P-Orridge Quits Throbbing Gristle
- New Smith Westerns: "Weekend"
Album Reviews
- !!!: Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass EP
- Gucci Mane: The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted
- David Sylvian: Sleepwalkers
- The War on Drugs: Future Weather EP
- Mice Parade: What It Means to Be Left-Handed
The Playlist
Features
News
- Remember to Vote
- TVOTR, Four Tet, Interpol Members on Beans Album
- NATO Causes Arcade Fire Show Cancellation
- Deerhoof Share Another New Song, Tour Dates
- Hear New LPs From Matt & Kim, Cee-Lo, Springsteen
- Video: Frightened Rabbit, Craig Finn Cover Elton
- Listen: Joker Remixes Gorillaz
- Ted Leo, MMJ, YYYs, !!!, MGMT Do Halloween
- New Memory Tapes: "Pretend the Devil Isn't Real"
- Women Cancel Tour After Clashing Onstage
Album Reviews
- Destroyer: Archer on the Beach 12"
- Warpaint: The Fool
- Brian McBride: The Effective Disconnect
- Dylan LeBlanc: Paupers Field
- Various Artists: Bloody War: Songs 1924-1939 / The Battles Rage On
Features
News
- The Feelies Plan First Album in Two Decades
- New Release: Cloud Nothings: Cloud Nothings
- Video: Deerhunter Cover Scott Walker
- Listen: Fang Island Team With Andrew W.K.
- Feist Documentary Due on DVD With Bonus CD
- Wretches & Jabberers I Get Physical I Heartland
- Jim O'Rourke vs. iCarly
- New Release: Laurel Halo: King Felix EP
- Aphex Twin Says He's Got Six Albums Completed
- Hear the Caribou Remix Album in Full
Album Reviews
- Waka Flocka Flame: Flockaveli
- Sun Airway: Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier
- Josephine Foster & the Victor Herrero Band: Anda Jaleo
- Shugo Tokumaru: Port Entropy
- Dustin Wong: Infinite Love
The Playlist
News
- Iron & Wine Ready New Single for Black Friday
- Listen: Matt & Kim: "Block After Block"
- Video Directors Hammer & Tongs Release DVD
- Arcade Fire, M.I.A., Morrissey Get Halloween Masks
- Basement Jaxx Reissue Early Material
- 5-10-15-20: Apparat
- Arcade Fire to Perform on "SNL" Again
- Pixies Give Away 2004 Coachella Recording
- New Release: Weekend: Sports
- Video: Robyn: "Indestructible"