Album of the Week: Belle and Sebastian produce sprawling new album, ‘Late Developers’
Earlier this week, Belle and Sebastian announced the surprise arrival of their 12th studio album and follow-up to last year’s A Bit of Previous, which was recorded during the same Covid-19 clouded sessions. In the press materials, the band make it patently clear that Late Developers is by no means an afterthought or a collection of shortlisted rejects from A Bit of Previous. “Rather, it’s an embrace of the freedom that comes with a jumbo-sized canvas; skilled students left unsupervised to paint whatever picture they feel like,” the band assert.
“The album’s sunny musical disposition is regularly confronted by the reality that sometimes life and love do not feel good. Major chords on a harpsichord and plucked guitar breeze by as Stuart Murdoch and Sarah Martin lament in harmony, ‘the world is killing me / I’m out to sea’ (‘Will I Tell You a Secret’),” they added.
The announcement of Late Developers was accompanied by the album’s lead single, ‘I Don’t Know What You See In Me’. The song came as a notable departure from Belle and Sebastian’s usual indie medley towards something bordering contemporary pop with synths echoing the 1980s. The track was the group’s first co-writing collaboration with producer and performer Pete Ferguson. It certainly made for a unique listen when imposed upon their eclectic oeuvre and even within this characteristically diverse album.
‘I Don’t Know What You See In Me’ isn’t my cup of tea, but as I had hoped, it didn’t set a tone for the rest of the LP. In true B&S style, this is another eclectic smorgasbord which begins with a personal favourite, ‘Juliet Naked’. The track channels Billy Bragg’s characteristic stripped-back electric guitar sound, a perfect way to kick things off before more textures are brought in for the more uplifting ‘Give A Little More’, which hears Sarah Martin take to the microphone.
‘When We Were Young’ brings yet another notable shift in tone as Murdoch flirts with an existential crisis, rattling off his “I wish” list. The instrumentals here are highlighted by Chris Geddes’ subtle yet structurally integral keys.
‘Will I Tell You a Secret’, the album’s shortest track, clocking in at just over two minutes, brings that twee sound with which the band has long been associated. For this sentimental beauty, they employed pleasant harpsichord treatment to accompany Murdoch and Martin’s harmonising lines, “The world is killing me / I’m out to sea”.
Later, another highlight comes in the form of ‘The Evening Star’, which allows Murdoch to show off his unique vocal talents as he scales the octaves within the first few seconds, reprising the “do ah da ba’s” of ‘Juliet Naked’.
Pushing on past the lead single, we arrive at the disco-infused ‘Do You Follow’, one for the dancers among us, and ‘When The Cynics Stare Back From The Wall’, a song unearthed from way back in 1994 before Belle and Sebastian were an item. Concluding the album is the title track, ‘Late Developers’, which leaves us on a positive, upbeat note. However, in characteristic Belle and Sebastian style, it’s not without lyrical juxtaposition.
With Late Developers, Belle and Sebastian have followed up A Bit of Previous with an album of equal depth and entertainment value. The eclecticism shown over both albums reflects the group’s broad pool of inspiration and astonishingly versatile talents. These guys are true professionals in the game.
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