Thursday 14 October 2010

Belle and Sebastian – Write About Love [Single] (Rough Trade)

It feels like an age since Belle and Sebastian released anything new. In fact it has only been four years since their most successful album to date ‘The Life Pursuit’ was unleashed on their adoring fans. Never really having been recognised in the mass media for their music, Belle and Sebastian have relied heavily on the support of their obsessive followers over the years to keep them going. So when the announcement was made in May that the band were back in the studio I can imagine that I wasn’t the only person to have got slightly excited at the prospect.

‘Write About Love’ is the first single to be taken off this long awaited album, ‘Belle and Sebastian Write About Love’, and it is a surprising choice I must admit. It sounds a bit like The Beach Boys attempting to write a 60’s soul/ surf rock crossover track which indeed makes for a good pop song, but that is all it is. It lacks the feeling and honesty that I always associate with Belle and Sebastian. The quirky off beat guitars and melodic organs sound typical of the surf rock era, but don’t have the down to earth warm intimacy that I have come to expect. The vocal parts play off each other with the same lack of intent, instead seeming forced with the hope that it would make the song more interesting. I know these are just niggly little things and are quite possibly problems that I would overlook with other bands, but I have such high expectations of Belle and Sebastian that I can’t let them go this time. Having heard the album in its entirety I could name maybe eight songs that would have been more suitable as the first single. ‘Write About Love’ is much more of an album track in my opinion. But if you are new to the band or hesitant after such a long period of silence don’t let this single deter you; although this isn’t the greatest song they have ever released it is still much better than most other bands in the same genre, and from the sound of the rest of the album it is taken from they still have plenty to offer. 6/10


www.belleandsebastian.com

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