Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit (Rough Trade)

It is not just books that should not be judged by their covers, but albums as well. The gentle and nostalgic tones of the sepia tinted and pastel coloured pictures of Belle and Sebastian’s album covers have been the perfect introduction to the wistful, frail vocals and soft music touches of ‘Tiger Milk’ and ‘If You Are Feeling Sinister’.
As the band progressed in their career, the pale and faded colours remained, while Belle and Sebastian’s music became more confident, louder and more adventurous.
Adventure came in the shape of ‘Fold your Hands Child..’, with powerful and sophisticated string sections, and of ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ which strengthened the band’s pop backbone, with a little help from über producer Trevor Horn.
If black and white are the colours of choice for the cover of Belle and Sebastian’s 7th studio album, ‘The Life Pursuit’, almost as if to suggest an element to sombreness to their music, nothing proves to be more different. Continuing in the same upbeat track of their previous album, ‘The Life Pursuit’ is a joyful explosion of catchy and sparkly pop songs by the once fey band from Glasgow. ‘Act of the Apostle’ opens the album with a Sixties Beach Boys inspired swing contrasted by the melancholic storytelling of Stuart Murdoch while ‘Another Sunny Day’ plays with familiar Belle and Sebastian’s jangle and with beautiful upbeat piano accompaniment. ‘White Collar Boy’ and ‘The Blues are still Blue’ are sprinkled with 70’s glitter while ‘Sukie in the Graveyard’ shifts from glam to funk and pop, perfectly wrapped up by Bob Kildea’s guitar solo. ‘Funny Little Frog’ - the first single extracted from the album - is a clear statement of the band's desire to shrug the image of indie underdogs in favour of a more popular approach, with this hand clapping, foot stomping pop tale of self delusion. Re-exploring Belle and Sebastian’s music heritage, Stevie Jackson’s charismatic and self-affirming gem ‘To Be Myself Completely’ sees a return to violin solos and upbeat country melodies.

Belle and Sebastian are still at the research of answers but, while the album covers might still be blue, their music direction is brighter than ever.

Elisabetta P.