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[Exclusive] Belle & Sebastian talks new album, Buddhism and staying optimistic
The legendary Scottish indie pop group is releasing its first full-length studio album in almost a decade. Frontman Stuart Murdoch and covocalist Sarah Martin share Belle and Sebastian's journey to A Bit of Previous with The Jakarta Post while reflecting on growing older and learning to reconnect post-lockdown.
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Time out: After Belle and Sebastian’s initial recording plans in the United States were scrapped due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Scottish indie pop legend hunkered down in its hometown of Glasgow to self-produce ‘A Bit of Previous’, which is “not a pandemic record”. (Courtesy of Belle and Sebastian/Marisa Privitera Murdoch) (Courtesy of Belle & Sebastian/Marisa Privitera Murdoch)
T
he legendary Scottish indie pop group is releasing its first full-length studio album in almost a decade. Frontman Stuart Murdoch and covocalist Sarah Martin share Belle and Sebastian's journey to A Bit of Previous with The Jakarta Post while reflecting on growing older and learning to reconnect post-lockdown.
The press release on Belle and Sebastian’s upcoming studio album, A Bit of Previous, contains an interesting line. Amid pithy observations about everyday life, the recording process and spirituality, the band tells listeners: “This is not a pandemic record.”
Perhaps, having mastered the art of singing beautifully about inertia, they’re no longer shocked by loneliness and the world falling apart.
Ever since it was formed in 1996, the Glasgow band has established itself as a bona fide indie pop legend. Its sophomore album, 1996’s If You’re Feeling Sinister, was dubbed one of the 100 best albums between 1985 and 2005 by SPIN magazine. With it came indie cred, a burgeoning place in pop culture – Barry, the music snob Jack Black portrayed in 2000’s High Fidelity famously dismissed the band as “old sad [expletive] music” – and increasing critical and commercial acclaim.
After embracing a more polished, grander sound at the turn of the millennium, albums like The Life Pursuit (2006) and Belle and Sebastian Write About Love (2010) have consistently climbed into the top 10 in the United Kingdom, powered by successful singles like “Funny Little Frog” and “I’m a Cuckoo”.
Not bad for a group of shy Scots used to singing delicately about life.
“If you said to me twenty years ago that we would show up in Indonesia and there would be a crowd to see us play, I wouldn’t believe you,” lead singer Stuart Murdoch admitted while beaming, referring to the band’s Jakarta concert in 2010.
