Twenty-five years after its original release, Belle and Sebastian have produced their most popular album in limited pale blue artwork with matching coloured vinyl. This 25th Anniversary edition also includes an exclusive art print of behind-the-scenes photos from the promotional video for the album, taken by band member Sarah Martin.

This limited pale blue colour artwork is reproduced in the original colour used in 1998 on the album’s promotional poster and T-shirt.

The album was recorded in Glasgow at CaVa Studios during 1998. Videos were made at that time for Is It Wicked Not To Care, which inspired the 25th Anniversary art print, and Dirty Dream #2 (directed by Lance Bangs) which did not feature any band members.

Belle and Sebastian were awarded Best Newcomer at the 1999 Brit Awards following the release of The Boy With The Arab Strap.

Joining Stuart Murdoch on song writing duties on this album for the first time were band members Stevie Jackson, Isobel Campbell and Stuart David.

The eponymous title track has become one of the most popular Belle and Sebastian songs and an iconic symbol of the live shows, when the band are ritually joined by their fans onstage as they dance to ‘The Boy With The Arab Strap’.

TRACK LISTING

A1. It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career
A2. Sleep The Clock Around
A3. Is It Wicked Not To Care?
A4. Ease Your Feet In The Sea
A5. A Summer Wasting
A6. Seymour Stein
B1. A Spaceboy Dream
B2. Dirty Dream Number Two
B3. The Boy With The Arab Strap
B4. Chickfactor
B5. Simple Things
B6. The Rollercoaster Ride

The illustrious, London-based duo Kit Sebastian, aka Kit Martin and Merve Erdem, return with a limited edition 7" single.

It features 'L'addio', a breakbeat driven, sultry ballad, and 'Hayat', a hazy, psychedelic scorcher that delves into the band's Turkish and Azerbaijan influences.

'L'addio' saw the band perfecting their production and orchestration, with strings, horns and double bass, and an Italian synth found in a French dump.The music was greatly influenced by Italian soundtracks and Italian female singers, such as Mina or Rita Pavone.The track announces itself with a break that is guaranteed to get samplers twitching. The tone of the melody and lyrics is heartfelt and aching. It has a beautiful, intimate sadness like the closing scenes to a love affair, and it exquisitely rides over the slow, psych-funk-dramatic backing track. The lyrics are inspired by a flatopposite Merve's window that's occupied by drug addicts, with many guests coming in and out every night. Merve elaborated "Being both neighbours and strangers, and with the boredom of a post- tour everyday domestic life and a pinch of urban voyeurism, it was hard not to wonder what was happening in that flat. The words imagine an addict before her/his golden shot as if it's a love relationship between them that comes to an end."

Having spent much of 2022 touring and writing, 'Hayat' was the first original composition the band recorded since their October 2021 album, 'Melodi'. Here we see them weaving a psychedelic tapestry of Mugham melodies, organ- driven grooves, and jazz- pop harmonies in classic Kit Sebastian fashion. Recorded to Fostex 1/4" tape, the essence of the production is perfectly balanced between being brand new and retro, which is a feat very hard to pull off.

'Hayat' is sung in Turkish and the title translates as 'Life' in English. The song examines our desire to find one's place in the world and the provisionality of existence. Merve's searching lyrics ask"Where are you? Where is the universe?".Her vocal delivery perfectly reflects the lyrical focus, its texture is probing and ethereal, almost as if sung from looking above us.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Absolutely perfect for summer, "Hayat" has an air of Khruangbin and Surprise Chef about it, albeit with a wild Turkish keyboard solo halfway through. L'addio drapes long dresses and dim lights over its late afternoon haze - a sexy poolside smoocher to top of a perfect day paddling in the shallows with your loved one.

Belle and Sebastian hit the ground running in 2023 with new album Late Developers.

Arriving almost back-to-back to 2022’s Top Ten album ‘A Bit of Previous’, ‘Late Developers’ comes on like its predecessor’s sun-kissed cousin. It is a full-hearted embrace of the band's brightest tendencies that is not only fresh and immediate but possessing of that Belle and Sebastian je ne sais quoi of a group that will always be there for you with the perfect word or melody for the moment, while admitting tunefully that “Every girl and boy / each one is a misery” (“When The Cynics Stare Back From The Wall”).

“Juliet Naked” channels frantic Billy Bragg-energy with rugged electric guitar and a football stadium worthy chant from Stuart Murdoch. The aforementioned “When The Cynics Stare Back From The Wall” is an unearthed 1994-era pre-Belle and Sebastian gem, with help from Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell. "So In The Moment” is breathless psychedelic pop that is arguably one of Stevie Jackson’s best ever songs. “When We Were Very Young” is Smiths-esque jangle rock that is bittersweet, devotional and yearning: “I wish I could be content / With the football scores / I wish I could be content with my daily chores / With my daily worship of the sublime”.

TRACK LISTING

1. Juliet Naked
2. Give A Little Time
3. When We Were Very Young
4. Will I Tell You A Secret
5. So In The Moment
6. The Evening Star
7. When You’re Not With Me
8. I Don’t Know What You See In Me
9. Do You Follow
10. When The Cynics Stare Back From The Wall
11. Late Developers

Rob wanted the world of The Northman to feel harsh and uncomfortable, and for everything to feel like it was caked in mud and dry blood, so it was crucial for the score to mirror that.” Composers Robin Carolan (Tri-Angle Records) and Sebastian Gainsborough (Vessel) were given a task of epic proportions when director Rob Eggers(The VVitch, The Lighthouse) asked them to create the score for his ambitious and highly anticipated new film The Northman, releasing on April 22nd. They needed to make a score that both honored the immense research that had gone into the authenticity of this Viking era period piece and complimented the cinematic maximalism of the film for a modern audience. The artists stretched themselves to the depths of their creativity and the resulting album is a gorgeous sonic tableaux that places the listener right in the center of the film.



While arranging the score the composers consulted musician and ethnographer PoulHøxbro for inspiration and insight into the history of Viking music. Having backgrounds in left field electronic music, Robin and Sebastian felt liberated by the constraint of using a small selection of musical tools for this piece. “Electronic music has almost limitless potential when it comes to making sounds and that’s obviously an incredible thing, but you can also go down the wormhole and get lost in it sometimes. There’s no risk of that happening when you only have a few primary instruments to draw upon.” Robin remarked.



They utilized traditional instruments such as the tagelharpa, langspil, kravik lyre, and säckpip to build the cinematic world of The Northman but they also took creative freedoms in adding instruments likes drums, which some academics believe wouldn’t have played a big part in Viking musical culture, simply due to the lack of archaeological evidence of actual drums. “One of the pieces we wrote was intended to emulate the sound of a bullroarer; an ancient instrument used in sacred rituals or in battle to intimidate enemies. It makes a really disorienting roaring vibrato sound and low frequencies capable of traveling insane distances.” Robin says when asked about one of the more unique aspects of the score. Everyone involved put so much effort into both their research and their creativity and this richness is evident in every track. The album as a whole is a cinematic masterpiece of sound and ambiance, both gorgeous and disturbing, like the film it so beautifully accompanies.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A wonderful soundtrack from the ever-reliable Sacred Bones, by music scene aficionados Carolan & Gainsborough. Tense, orchestral scores and deep ambient passages, both bleak and beautiful, perfect for listening to as meditative home listening as well as a perfectly measured soundtrack.

TRACK LISTING

1. Approaching Hrafnsey
2. The King
3. Entering The Temple
4. Last Teardrop
5. Blood Tree, Part I
6. Strike, Brother
7. Escape
8. I Will Avenge You, Father
9. The Land Of The Rus
10. A Burning Barn
11. Seeress
12. Raven’s Omen
13. Storm At Sea / Yggdrasill
14. Iceland
15. I Will Save You, Mother
16. Slave Work
17. Guðrún
18. Follow The Vixen’s Tail
19. He-Witch
20. Draugr
21. Mound Dweller
22. To The Games
23. Birch Woods
24. First Of Many
25. Trollish Sorcery
26. Svið Night, Part I
27. Svið Night, Part II
28. I Am Your Death
29. Come Morning
30. I Am His Vengeance
31. Óðinn
32. Valkyrie
33. Vestrahorn
34. Hidden Valley
35. Blood Tree, Part II
36. Blóð Inside / I Choose Both
37. A Maiden King
38. The Wolf Has Grow
39. The Gates Of Hel / Slain By Iron
40. Hekla
41. Cut The Thread Of Fate
42. Make Your Passage / Valhöll
43. Ættartré / End Credits

A Bit of Previous is the tenth studio album by Belle and Sebastian and their first full-length in seven years. This may be surprising to anyone following the recent life pursuits of the Glasgow 7-piece: a trilogy of EPs; a soundtrack for the directorial debut of The Inbetweeners’ Simon Bird; The Boaty Weekender – a 3000 capacity star-studded four-day music festival on a cruise liner sailing the Mediterranean; a live album showcasing the band’s present-day iteration as savvy main stage entertainers; and in 2020 a collaborative project with fans called ‘Protecting The Hive’. But in all these idiosyncratic endeavours, as intrinsic to the band’s DNA as the stage invasion at the end of each of their shows, a full-length has eluded us.

A Bit Of Previous was recorded in Belle and Sebastian’s hometown of Glasgow when plans to fly to Los Angeles in spring of 2020 were scrapped due to the pandemic. Says Murdoch in the liner notes: “We did it together, us and the city. This record was the first ‘full’ LP recording for B&S in Glasgow since Fold Your Hands Child, 1999. We clocked in every morning, we played our songs, we wrote together, we tried new things, we took the proverbial lump of clay, and we threw it every day.”

A Bit Of Previous is a classic Belle and Sebastian album preoccupied with songs and melodies that won’t leave your head and lyrics that can make you smile and ponder and sometimes be melancholic. The result is one the most diverse, hands-on and thrilling entries in the bands catalogue, self-produced and recorded (with contributions from Brian McNeill, Matt Wiggins, Kevin Burleigh and Shawn Everett). ‘Young And Stupid’ is a stuttering folk rock earworm that faces the passage of time with wry ennui, ‘Come On Home’ with its warm fireside piano evokes a handing over of the generational baton, while the deceptively feelgood, choir-backed ‘If They’re Shooting At You’ reads like a poignant ode to defiance and survival.

A Bit of Previous is also scattered with big, occasionally delirious pop moments. ‘Unnecessary Drama’ rips through a cacophony of overdriven riffs and a droning harmonica that borders on the unhinged and is one of the band’s heaviest outings since, well, ever. The 140+ bpm ’Talk To Me Talk To Me’ is ablaze with euro synths and keyboard horns as the voices of Murdoch and Martin intertwine on a breathless chorus. ‘Working Boy in New York City’ exists in a parallel universe where the band did in fact make it to California – such is the escapist bliss of its sloping flute and bittersweet funk. On the other side of the spectrum are some of Belle and Sebastian’s most moving ballads. Tender finger-picked paean to a lover ‘Do It For Your Country’ and doo-wop-inflicted ‘Sea Of Sorrow’ showcase Murdoch’s tenor at its most bare and affecting, while Stevie Jackson contributes lovelorn country waltz ‘Deathbed of My Dreams’.

So what is a A Bit of Previous? It’s a bit of everything, and a lot of what makes Belle and Sebastian so special and enduring. It’s a band tackling age and growing older with grace, irreverence, musical bravado and lyrical exactitude and emerging as an endless source of energy and reinvention.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I famously adore Belle & Sebastian, but this is definitely one of my favourites of theirs thus far, and goes some way to cementing their place on the greatest bands of all time list. Swimming melodies, clever progressions and heartfelt lyricism make for a classic Belle & Sebastian LP.

TRACK LISTING

1. Young And Stupid
2. If They're Shooting At You
3. Talk To Me Talk To Me
4. Reclaim The Night
5. Do It For Your Country
6. Prophets On Hold
7. Unnecessary Drama
8. Come On Home
9. A World Without You
10. Deathbed Of My Dreams
11. Sea Of Sorrow
12. Working Boy In New York City

7” (Indies Only)
1. A Bit Of Previous
2. Sometimes

Second album from Kit Sebastian, the captivating duo of Kit Martin and Merve Erdem. Those familiar with the band's cult classic 2019 debut,”Mantra Moderne” will instantly recognize their unique sound that blurs the boundaries of world music, jazz and psychedelia. However, “Melodi” sees the band evolve with even more diversity, effortlessly strolling between moods and influences.

“Melodi” is imbued with Kit Sebastian's love of vintage records and world cinema, but it is not a retro homage. It celebrates its influences but is very much a modern record, being simultaneously brand new and retro. This is a credit to the duo's craft as musicians and songwriters, presenting their influences as a circular interaction between the present and the past rather than a linear one.

The album’s range of instrumentation has expanded from the previous record to include zithers, harpsichords, congas, bongos, bulbul tarang, and a mock-up choir on top of the synthesizers, balalaikas, organs, and saxophones. Session musicians and friends were also booked to introduce trumpet and string sections giving the album an added depth and orchestral texture. Despite the added complexity, the album was recorded using the same techniques employed for the previous album with various tape machines, bouncing back between cassette and ¼” tape for practicality and sonic abstraction. To pierce through this abstraction, the vocals are intentionally more expressive. Merve took cues from the Turkish singers of her youth, adding a slightly more melancholic, darker and more reflective style than “Mantra Moderne”. Rooted in observations from everyday life, they speak often about the worlds and thoughts that arise from the end of the night.

Like with many of the best albums, the record seems over all too soon and has you instantly wanting to play it again. On each listen you decide on a track that you think is your favourite from the album only for it to be replaced with a different one on the next listen. The songs and production have hidden depths that seem to evolve and morph the more you devour them. Moments of pure pop, moments to fall in love, moments to contemplate. This journey is rich in musical vitamins and nourishment, but like all the best things still leaves you wanting more.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Melodi is a wonderfully evocative mash-up of European pop, classic psychedelia and shimmering easy-listening, brought together with beautifully sung vocal lines, rich production values and hazy, lounge-jazz saturation. A warm and intoxicating listen, bringing to mind any number of cinematic accompaniments.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Yalvarma (Don't Beg) (5:11)
2. Agitate (4:37)
3. Yeter (Enough) (3:42)
4. Melodi (Melody) (part 1) (4:11)
5. Melodi (Melody) (part 2) (1:26)
Side 2
1. Elegy For Love (3:40)
2. Affet Beni (Forgive Me) (3:38)
3. Inertia (3:40)
4. Ahenk (Harmony) (3:30)
5. Please, Don't Take This Badly (4:13)

Originally released on the Ovide label from Houston, Texas in 1970 and currently going for around £175, if you can find a copy.

Get Your Point Over is a brass-led funky dancer that beautifully compliments Sebastian Williams’ soulful vocal style, while the flipside, I Don't Care What Mama Said (Baby I Need You), is a slower groove that lets that vocal really soar, arriving complete with a groovy psychedelic guitar break before Williams testifies to his lady amid some punchy brass stabs.

Two stellar tunes from Sebastian Williams (aka Roger Williams of no-hit wonders The Quarter Notes), whose solo recording career amounted to just three 45s, all five years apart, along with a couple of releases as Sebastian And The House Rockers and finally, in 1975, just Sebastian.

Imagine vintage Tavares lead singer Chubby Tavares at his gritty best with a funky brass section in a soulful Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes- styled blast. Both tracks mastered from the original sound source for maximum soul sound

TRACK LISTING

1. Get Your Point Over
2. I Don’t Care What Mama Said (Baby I Need You)

Belle and Sebastian present twenty-two live performances featuring songs from across their 25 year career. The recordings showcase the Scottish septet at the height of their power during their 2019 tour, including tracks performed on the band's own Mediterranean cruise, "The Boaty Weekender."

TRACK LISTING

1. The Song Of The Clyde
2. Dirty Dream Number Two
3. Step Into My Office, Baby
4. We Were Beautiful
5. Seeing Other People
6. If She Wants Me
7. Beyond The Sunrise
8. Wrapped Up In Books
9. Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John
10. The Boy Done Wrong Again
11. I Can See Your Future
12. Funny Little Frog
13. The Fox In The Snow
14. If You’re Feeling Sinister
15. My Wandering Days Are Over
16. The Wrong Girl
17. Stay Loose
18. Poor Boy
19. Dog On Wheels
20. The Boy With The Arab Strap
21. I Didn’t See It Coming
22. Belle And Sebastian

Kit Sebastian are back with a special stand-alone alone 7” release that presents an appetising taster of what is to follow from their much-anticipated second album. After losing themselves in the magic of the French countryside to record, the band have delivered two gems that we initially thought were a soup on of the said new album. In fact, though recorded during the same sessions, they felt these tracks were best served up as an aperitif to the album.

Francis Lai, Vladimir Cosma, Fikret K z lok, Jane Birkin, and Selda Bacan all served as inspirations during the recording sessions. Though their idols can be heard in ‘Ennui’ & ‘Abandoned’, the fusion of Anatolian Psychedelia, Brazilian Tropicalia, 60’s European pop and psych-folk vibes results in a sound that is drenched in their unique signature style and can only come from Kit Sebastian. The beautiful, heartfelt, longing vocals on both ‘Ennui’ & ‘Abandoned’’, makes it hard for the listener to resist falling in love with the world of Kit Sebastian, and they leave the heart longing even more for their next long player to drop.

TRACK LISTING

Ennui
Abandoned

This remix 12" features three unique reworks of Kit Sebastian tracks. Each of the producers featured in this package created their own interpretation of the ‘lo-fi-hi-fi’ originals and have taken the duo’s sound into bold new directions. When it came to choosing who should remix Kit Sebastian, Natureboy Flako (Flako / Dario Rojo Guerra) was a producer at the top of the list. Keeping true to the original, whilst leaving his own stamp on the track, his mix adds breakbeat drums and middle-Eastern guitar riffs that transform the track into a more cinematic piece. It sounds like the music from an exotica dive-bar scene in a David Lynch film - which of course, is a very good thing. Producer and DJ Baris K, who was behind the awesome ‘Istanbul 70’ series (re-edits of classic Turkish gems), takes ‘Durma’ in a very different direction. Totally reconstructing the track, his remix has flipped the original and totally run wild. The results are an epic left-field electronic workout. By bringing the spoken-word vocals to the forefront and giving the track a darker industrial vibe, it wouldn’t sound out of place bouncing around the walls of a Berlin basement club at 5am on a Sunday morning. The pairing of Kit Sebastian and Halal Cool J grew after DJing together at the alternative Great Escape party at the Mr Bongo HQ in May 2019. They share a love for dusty old psychedelic Turkish records. Halal Cool J (aka Aly Jamal / Don Leisure) has released records on First World and is a co-member of Darkhouse Family with Earl Jeffers. For his interpretation he has delivered a mix-tape-collage with a hip-hop aesthetic, and rather than focusing on remixing a specific song, he has cut and paste his favourite elements of tracks taken off the band’s ‘Mantra Moderne’ album.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: Featuring a dreamy stomper courtesy of Natureboy Flako, a 10-minute dub beast by the one and only Baris K and, my personal fave, an uber groovy medley by Halal Cool J. More of that please!

TRACK LISTING

Durma (Baris K Dub)
Senden Baska (Natureboy Flako Remix)
Kit Sebastian Vs Halal Cool J

Days of the Bagnold Summer began life as a 2012 award-winning graphic novel by Joff Winterhart, was turned into a feature film and the directorial debut of Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners, Friday Night Dinner), and is now a wonderful, rich, bittersweet, and warmly welcoming original soundtrack album by Belle and Sebastian on Matador Records.

The album features eleven brand new Belle and Sebastian songs, as well as re-recorded versions of classics 'Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying', originally appearing on 1996's If You’re Feeling Sinister, and ‘I Know Where The Summer Goes’, from 1998's This Is Just a Modern Rock Song EP.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Whether they're writing stand-alone albums, performing live or soundtracking, Belle And Sebastian have a pedigree that can't be denied. 'Days Of The Bagnold Summer' is in the latter camp, but works perfectly as a standalone album too, showcasing exactly why they're one of the most beloved bands on the indie circuit and have been for a great many years.

TRACK LISTING

Sister Buddha (Intro)
I Know Where The Summer Goes
Did The Day Go Just Like You Wanted?
Jill Pole
I'll Keep It Inside
Safety Valve
The Colour's Gonna Run
Another Day, Another Night
Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying
Wait And See What The Day Holds
Sister Buddha
This Letter
We Were Never Glorious

‘Mantra Moderne’ is a stunning, contemporary masterpiece that fuses Anatolian Psychedelia, Brazilian Tropicalia, 60’s European pop and American jazz. A must for fans of Khruangbin, Portishead, Arthur Verocai, Goat, Caetano Veloso, Tom Ze, Os Mutantes, Cortex and co. The duo is formed of Kit Martin, who lives between London and France and plays all instruments on the album, and Merve Erdem, vocalist and multi-disciplinary artist from Istanbul, now based in London. This is their debut album.

The album explores universal themes such as love, loss, decay, language and ideology, mixing three different languages: English, Turkish and French. Written and recorded by the duo - Kit composed all the songs and Merve wrote the lyrics - in rural France during 2018, each song was completed within a 12- hour window, pawning contemplation for spontaneity.

Dubbed by Kit and Merve as ‘lo-fi-hi-fi’ in reference to the high-end tube equipment that helped it find its way to 8-track cassette tape. The style owes its sound to narrow tape width, valve distortion, spring reverb, the mixture of high end gear with lo-fi equipment as well as a disregard to the norms of hi-fi studio techniques. All instruments were analogue and no samples were used. The instruments that are used range from tablas to darbukas, balalaikas to ouds, MS20 synths to Farfisa organs and a lot of cuica. The mixing techniques were done on-the-fly, tracking immediately to tape: compression, EQ, delay and reverb;meaning mixing could not be revisited!

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Kit Sebastian's 'Mantra Moderne' is a brilliantly oddball juxtaposition of exotica, international psychedelia and tropical beach vibes, brought together into a swinging haze of lysergic guitar strums and staggering percussion.

TRACK LISTING

Senden Baska
Mantra Moderne
Tyranny 20
Pangea 
Kuytu
Yanimda Kal
Y R D M B Y D M R D M
With A Sense Of Grace
Durma

‘Mantra Moderne’ is a stunning, contemporary masterpiece that fuses Anatolian Psychedelia, Brazilian Tropicalia, 60’s European pop and American jazz. A must for fans of Khruangbin, Portishead, Arthur Verocai, Goat, Caetano Veloso, Tom Ze, Os Mutantes, Cortex and co. The duo is formed of Kit Martin, who lives between London and France and plays all instruments on the album, and Merve Erdem, vocalist and multi-disciplinary artist from Istanbul, now based in London. This is the debut single from their debut album.

Dubbed by Kit and Merve as ‘lo-fi-hi-fi’ in reference to the high-end tube equipment that helped it find its way to 8-track cassette tape. The style owes its sound to narrow tape width, valve distortion, spring reverb, the mixture of high end gear with lo-fi equipment as well as a disregard to the norms of hi-fi studio techniques. All instruments were analogue and no samples were used. The instruments that are used range from tablas to darbukas, balalaikas to ouds, MS20 synths to Farfisa organs and a lot of cuica. The mixing techniques were done on-the-fly, tracking immediately to tape: compression, EQ, delay and reverb; meaning mixing could not be revisited!

Mantra Moderne was hugely influenced by Italian library soundtracks. The first backwards sound that occurs at 0.26 was an earlier recording of the track that was meant to have been recorded completely over, an example of the amount of mistakes that were present in the recording process that became desirable!

Kuytu is strongly influenced by Turkish Anatolian Rock and Azeri Mugham folk but also the works of someone very important to Kit and Merv, Vagif Mustafazadeh. The lyrics, written in Turkish are about a mysterious figure whose presence brings a heavenly love and joy into the poet’s life. However, his unexpected disappearance leaves a black sorrow in her heart.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: A very unique and somewhat irresistible blend of sounds, combining slow grooving bass lines, charming vocals and a good portion of jazz into a psychedelic haze. Delightful!

TRACK LISTING

Mantra Moderne
Kyutu

Harking back to their 1997 release of three consecutive EPs (Dog On Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane, and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds Of Light), Belle and Sebastian have kicked of 2018 with three new EPs under the umbrella title How To Solve Our Human Problems. The EP trilogy culminates with this beautifully packaged limited edition vinyl box set containing all three EPs.

TRACK LISTING

1. Sweet Dew Lee
2. We Were Beautiful
3. Fickle Season
4. The Girl Doesn’t Get It
5. Everything Is Now
6. Show Me The Sun
7. Same Star
8. I’ll Be Your Pilot
9. Cornflakes
10. A Plague On All Other Boys
11. Poor Boy
12. Everything Is Now (Part Two)
13. Too Many Tears
14. There Is An Everlasting Song
15. Best Friend

Harkening back to their 1997 release of three consecutive EPs (Dog On Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane, and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds Of Light), Belle and Sebastian will release three new EPs under the umbrella title How To Solve Our Human Problems, with the first EP coming out on December 8th, the second on January 19th, and the third on February 16th.

Just as those three early EPs are at the very heart of the Belle and Sebastian canon, so these three new releases deserve to be treated not as a stopgap, but as definitive releases in their own right. How To Solve Our Human Problems is both an era of its own, and part of a long, rich history. How To Solve Our Human Problems is, if you like, Belle and Sebastian Redux.

Harkening back to their 1997 release of three consecutive EPs (Dog On Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane, and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds Of Light), Belle and Sebastian will release three new EPs under the umbrella title How To Solve Our Human Problems, with the first EP coming out on December 8th, the second on January 19th, and the third on February 16th.

Just as those three early EPs are at the very heart of the Belle and Sebastian canon, so these three new releases deserve to be treated not as a stopgap, but as definitive releases in their own right. How To Solve Our Human Problems is both an era of its own, and part of a long, rich history. How To Solve Our Human Problems is, if you like, Belle and Sebastian Redux.

TRACK LISTING

1. Show Me The Sun
2. Same Star
3. I’ll Be Your Pilot
4. Cornflakes
5. A Plague On All Other Boys

Harkening back to their 1997 release of three consecutive EPs (Dog On Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane, and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds Of Light), Belle and Sebastian will release three new EPs under the umbrella title How To Solve Our Human Problems, with the first EP coming out on December 8th, the second on January 19th, and the third on February 16th.

Just as those three early EPs are at the very heart of the Belle and Sebastian canon, so these three new releases deserve to be treated not as a stopgap, but as definitive releases in their own right. How To Solve Our Human Problems is both an era of its own, and part of a long, rich history. How To Solve Our Human Problems is, if you like, Belle and Sebastian Redux.

Enter the all-encompassing universe of Everything, a score by Ben Lukas Boysen and Sebastian Plano. Game creator David OReilly has built an interactive world for you to explore at your choosing. Whether you decide to take the role of a microbe inside a plant in the desert, or a star in the furthermost galaxy, each layer of the game is coated with ambience which takes the simulation even further into the limitless boundaries of each world. Composers Ben Lukas Boysen and Sebastian Plano have shaped this experience with their intricate 4-hour soundscape, alongside the continuous narration by philosopher Alan Watts. Words from Ben and Sebastian, April 2017:

“Composing something quite modular yet coherent that connects with the idea and fabric of the game was quite a task. We discussed many approaches, from really mathematical and direct, to abstract and philosophical, and we ended up with a mixture of both. Every element depends and builds on another and connects to previous and following songs. May it be on a compositional or on an abstract and conceptual level, the game and the music follow the same path and shares almost the same inspirational DNA.“ — Ben Lukas Boysen "Working on the soundtrack has been a truly inspiring collaboration. What fascinates me about the game is the self-exploratory approach it allows the player to experience; there is no purpose other than just being. This concept gave us wonderful freedom in searching for sounds and ideas that would fit the game.

Throughout the score there is a subtle level of drama which gives depth to the game, yet the music never becomes predominant taking the player away from the main experience of being anything. Honest, simple and beautiful, Everything has been a rewarding creative journey to contribute to." — Sebastian Plano Though the score has an important part to play in heightening the atmosphere of the game, it has the capability of being a standalone album – carefully sequenced down to a 10-track selection by label founder Robert Raths. There is a considerably therapeutic quality about it, allowing the audience to transcend into a meditative state, which is what makes it a perfect partner for Everything. The music is a whole world of its own, yet part of the game’s universe.

TRACK LISTING

1. Opening
2. We?re Here
3. Winding And Unwinding
4. Eisenach
5. An Infinite Day
6. Opening Light
7. Aalystice
8. Inside Air
9. After Our Efforts
10. Reaching Light

Recently, The Quietus published an interview with Stuart Murdoch and Richard Colburn which gives a hint of what to expect from "Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance". The album opens with “Nobody’s Empire,” which Stuart said “is absolutely the most personal [song] I’ve ever written.” About the beginnings of his lifelong struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which led to his first forays into songwriting, it is easily one of his most musically and emotionally epic songs.

What it doesn’t indicate is how fun the album is. Produced and mixed at Maze Studios in Atlanta by Ben H. Allen III, best known for his work with Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Raury, among others, the band – who have been listening to things like vintage Detroit techno and Giogio Moroder – have brought a dance-party element (and a disco song about Sylvia Plath) into their gorgeous tales of sensitive souls navigating a world gone awry. It is perhaps the most inspired and wide-reaching album Belle and Sebastian have ever made.

TRACK LISTING

1. Nobody's Empire
2. Allie
3. The Party Line
4. The Power Of Three
5. The Cat With The Cream
6. Enter Sylvia Plath
7. The Everlasting Muse
8. Perfect Couples
9. Ever Had A Little Faith?
10. Play For Today
11. The Book Of You
12. Today (This Army's For Peace)

Recently, The Quietus published an interview with Stuart Murdoch and Richard Colburn which gives a hint of what to expect from "Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance". The album opens with “Nobody’s Empire,” which Stuart said “is absolutely the most personal [song] I’ve ever written.” About the beginnings of his lifelong struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which led to his first forays into songwriting, it is easily one of his most musically and emotionally epic songs.

What it doesn’t indicate is how fun the album is. Produced and mixed at Maze Studios in Atlanta by Ben H. Allen III, best known for his work with Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Raury, among others, the band – who have been listening to things like vintage Detroit techno and Giogio Moroder – have brought a dance-party element (and a disco song about Sylvia Plath) into their gorgeous tales of sensitive souls navigating a world gone awry. It is perhaps the most inspired and wide-reaching album Belle and Sebastian have ever made.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. The Party Line

Side 2
1. The Everlasting Muse
2. The Power Of Three
3. Today (This Army's For Peace)

Side 3
1. Enter Sylvia Plath

Side 4
1. Born To Act
2. Two Birds
3. Ever Had A Little Faith? (Extended Version)

Side 5
1. Play For Today

Side 6
1. Nobody's Empire
2. Piggy In The Middle
3. The Book Of You

Side 7
1. Perfect Couples (Extended Version)

Side 8
1. Allie
2. A Politician's Silence
3. The Cat With The Cream

The Possibilities Are Endless is a film, a hymn to happiness about Edwyn Collins. About finding his way back to music, to life, to understanding. Due for release by Pulse Films in UK cinemas on 7th November 2014 ‘The Possibilities. . .’ is the third feature from directing talents Edward Lovelace and James Hall. The film received its world premiere at South by Southwest earlier this year.

"The thing about the film is....Ed and James listened and listened to me. We talked in my studio and they gave me time to develop my thoughts. It was quiet and peaceful. I knew I could trust them." - Edwyn

"I called the film a hymn to happiness. The whole thing began with two young men discovering Edwyn's music, then his story and now look at what they've done." - Grace

TRACK LISTING

Leviathan (instrumental)
Quite Like Silver
Home Again Harmonies
Home Again
Quite Like Silver Piano Refrain
Viewed From All Angles
One Note Wonder Part I.
Closing Time At The Punk Rock Hotel - 2014 Version
Down The Line
One Note Wonder Part II
Don't Shilly Shally - 2014 Version
Two Steps Back
I've Got It Bad

Unlike its predecessors, "Write About Love" is an album which has come together in a relatively short period of time. After reconvening in February 2010, a period of writing and pre-production in Glasgow was followed by a trip to Los Angeles for recording with Tony Hoffer (who also produced ‘The Life Pursuit’) at the renowned Sound Factory Studio B.

Adopting a more fluid approach than on the previous record, fourteen songs were recorded and mixed by the start of June, of which eleven feature on the CD and vinyl releases. Two further tracks from these sessions appear on a bonus 7” with the vinyl edition of the album.

As ever, the record draws the band’s internal songwriting strengths, but this time includes some guest performances. Stuart Murdoch wrote the majority of the songs on the album, while Sarah Martin takes lead vocals on her two contributions, "I Didn’t See It Coming" and "I Can See Your Future" and Stevie Jackson on his ("I’m Not Living In The Real World"). In addition, Norah Jones contributes lead vocals to "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John" (which also appears on her forthcoming album of duets and collaborations called "Featuring") and actress Carey Mulligan sings on "Write About Love". Strings were added by LA residents The Section Quartet.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: I’m spoilt for choice with Belle and Sebastian albums; they’re a favourite band of mine, their juxtaposition of melancholic lyrics with upbeat and cheery melodies are just brilliant. It’s bold and rosy; their story-like style is prominent in their ever on-going array of music.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Didn't See It Coming
2. Come On Sister
3. Calculating Bimbo
4. I Want The World To Stop
5. Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John (Feat. Norah Jones)
6. Write About Love (Feat. Carey Mulligan)
7. I'm Not Living In The Real World
8. Ghost Of Rockschool
9. Read The Blessed Pages
10. I Can See Your Future
11. Sunday's Pretty Icons

Seven albums in and Belle and Sebastian have just made the best record of their career. Produced by Tony Hoffer this album feels both familiar and strange at the same time. There is a powerful aesthetic at the heart of the "The Life Pursuit" that places it at some time in the early-to-middle Seventies without ever specifically sounding like anything you can put your finger on. Belle And Sebastian pull in stuff from all over the place, so that Sly & the Family Stone/Funkadelic inflections ("Song For Sunshine") sits side by side with the classic Bubblegum riffs and call-and-response vocals of "White Collar Boy" (another sure-fire stomping single); the "Queen Bitch"-era Bowie stylings of "Sukie In the Graveyard"; the glammy T-Rex of "The Blues Are Still Blue"; the prime-time miserablism of a Terry Hall "Mornington Crescent" and the irrepressible rousing piano drive of "The Price Of A Cup Of Tea". All formats come beautifully packaged.

After 1997's "If You're Feeling Sinister" made them critics' darlings, Scottish octet Belle And Sebastian ran straight into a series of label woes, and into the inevitable feeding frenzy that surrounds a free agent with their prodigious talents. Their experience with one label exec is detailed in "Seymour Stein" on "The Boy With The Arab Strap", which finds theband building on the pastoral pop charms of "Sinister...", adding a palpable layer of anger and an increasingly rich sonic palette to their painfully shy tales of despair.

Near-overnight success taught the band a lot. This album moves from their trademark confessional diary sketches (still in abundance, as on the disarmingly naive "Is It Wicked Not To Care", and the tender "Rollercoaster Ride") to genuine social criticism, as on the title track, a narrative meditation on Britain's pretensions and societal ills. "Chickfactor" pulls apart the banality the band encountered on arrival in New York, an experience which only served to deepen the bashful anger that makes Belle and Sebastian so endearing.

TRACK LISTING

1. It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career
2. Sleep The Clock Around
3. Is It Wicked Not To Care
4. Ease Your Feet In The Sea
5. A Summer Wasting
6. Seymour Stein
7. A Space Boy Dream
8. Dirty Dream Number Two
9. The Boy With The Arab Strap
10. Chickfactor
11. Simple Things
12. The Rollercoaster Ride

Their first 'official' release, after the limited edition "Tiger Milk" album. Includes "The Stars Of Track And Field" and "If You're Feeling Sinister". Clever, witty songs - a true indie classic.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Stars Of Track And Field
2. Seeing Other People
3. Me And The Major
4. Like Dylan In The Movies
5. The Fox In The Snow
6. Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying
7. If You're Feeling Sinister
8. Mayfly
9. The Boy Done Wrong Again
10. Judy And The Dream Of Horses

For their fourth and most cleverly titled album, Glasgow's fey folk-popsters Belle & Sebastian have constructed another11 songs that at times reach into new musical and lyrical areas. Following secondary composer Stuart David's departure, de facto leader Stuart Murdoch divides the songwriting chores among the other members; yet what's apparent is the single-mindedness of Belle & Sebastian's song focus.

The overall mood is even softer and more precious (if that can be believed) than their previous efforts. Murdoch and Chris Geddes' "Don't Leave The Light On Baby" is the band's attempt at a '70s soul ballad, a Wurlitzer adding a Music-of-My-Mind vibe to a lovers' dissertation. Isobel Campbell's "Beyond The Sunrise" is biblical Celtic-prog-folk, all flutes and acoustic guitar, while Jackson's own "The Wrong Girl" is an upbeat, country-ish lament with typically soulful Belle & Sebastian strings and trumpet giving the song an understated melodic kick. Of course, Murdoch contributes a classic or two - "I Fought a War" is a gentle away-at-the-battlefield tale imbued with the greatest sense of dread Murdoch's ever given a song. And "Woman's Realm" is the kind of pop stomper "Arab Strap" was packed to the gills with, highlighted here by its increasingly quiet surroundings.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Fought In A War
2. The Model
3. Beyond The Sunrise
4. Waiting For The Moon To Rise
5. Don't Leave The Light On Baby
6. The Wrong Girl
7. The Chalet Lines
8. Nice Day For A Sulk
9. Women's Realm
10. Family Tree
11. There's Too Much Love