So far this week I’ve concentrated on Belle and Sebastian’s early work, but now I jump ahead to their last studio album, 2006’s The Life Pursuit. This is their least twee effort to date, with a more muscular, fleshed-out sound and more complicated production.
Some fans aren’t thrilled with the direction the band has taken on this album and its predecessor, Dear Catastrophe Waitress, but I feel the opposite. I consider this some of their strongest work and song-for-song The Life Pursuit might be their most consistently excellent album. All the usual touches are there but also a confidence and a taste for experimentation that suits them well.
One great thing about Belle and Sebastian is that for their first ten or so years they released, between albums, EPs that contained three of four completely new songs. Rather than releasing a CD single with an album song and a couple of bonus tracks, they reserved those singles for brand new material. This meant fans had new songs to look forward to almost every year.
I really like the word ‘twee.’ It’s one of those words (and I think there’s a name for this) that sounds like what it means. Sort of like ‘guttural’ or ‘effervescent.’ I mean, can you think of a more twee word than ‘twee?’
I’ve decided to dedicate future theme weeks, at least for the time being, to five songs by the same artist or band. And to get us started, I’ve chosen everybody’s favorite Scottish septet, Belle and Sebastian. (Is there a Scottish septet you like better? If so, please let me know).
This movie sat on the shelf for awhile before getting a quiet release in March of 2008, and it’s easy to see why it had trouble finding an audience. Despite a stellar cast featuring Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson and Rachel McAdams, it is a bland attempt at a Hitchcockian thriller that never registers a pulse.
