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Belle and Sebastian formed in Glasgow in 1996, releasing debut album Tigermilk as part of a sound production project for vocalist Stuart Murdoch and bassist Stuart David. Over a decade later, the band have numerous hit albums and continue to be the band of choice for intellectuals and the cardigan-wearing around the world.
Though Tigermilk was a surprise success, sophomore record If You’re Feeling Sinister remains the band’s finest moment. With guitarist Stevie Jackson joining the pair, along with Isobel Campbell (vocals, cello), Chris Geddes (keyboards) and Richard Colburn (drums), the band signed to Jeepster and soon recorded an album full of classics that married innocent, old-fashioned pop sounds with lyrics heavy on innuendo and warped and sinister themes.
The Boy With the Arab Strap followed in 1998 and, charting at number 14 in the UK, was the band’s biggest success. The album also marked the debut of Mick Cooke on trumpet. With a growing cult following, they released album number four, Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant in 2000, which cracked the top 10.
Shortly after the release of Fold Your Hands Child, David left the band to work with pop-rock band Looper, with Bobby Kildea replacing him on bass duties. The lineup changed once again when, midway through the band’s 2002 American tour, Campbell announced she would be leaving. That same year, the band ended their partnership with Jeepster and signed to Rough Trade.
And the changes were for the good. Dear Catastrophe Waitress was released in 2003 and sits right behind Sinister as the band’s second-best LP. Step into My Office, Baby, the first single from the album, was a huge success, giving Belle and Sebastian a rare appearance on the singles charts. But while the band’s new material was making waves, there was plenty of material from previous EPs and singles that had barely been heard. Push Barman to Open Old Wounds, a compilation of non-album material from 1996-2005, was released early in 2005 just as the members prepared to start working on their next studio album.
But before The Life Pursuit would see the light of day, the band had some unfinished business to take care of. On September 25, 2005, the band took part in the Don’t Look Back concert series, performing If You’re Feeling Sinister in its entirety, which was recorded as a live album for a download-only release, the proceeds going to charity. Speaking about the performance, both Murdoch and Jackson suggested the 1996 recording had not done the songs justice, something they hoped to remedy with the live recording. Shortly afterwards, Funny Little Frog, the first single from The Life Pursuit, became their highest charting single at number 13, while the album peaked at number 8 on the albums chart.
SInce leaving the band, Campbell has worked on her own material and released Ballad of the Broken Seas with Mark Lanegan. Cooke, Kildea and Colburn have also contributed to Scottish indie supergroup The Reindeer Section alongside members of Mogwai, Idlewild, Snow Patrol and Teenage Fanclub.
Opening their Australian tour for The Life Pursuit at the Perth Concert Hall, Glasgow's Belle and Sebastian spend two hours giving fans a cross-section of their 10-year existence.
Indie music fans wanting to have their say on who is hot right now will want to cast their vote in the Plug Awards
Our fav Glaswegian indie pop collective, Belle & Sebastian, are about to hit town. As word on their last run of goosebump-inducing Austrlian shows spread, so to did the number of presale tickets snapped up by punters.
Belle & Sebastian return in June for their highly anticipated national tour.
Following the recent line up announcement for one of Britain's most famous events, the Carling Weekender - which sees both the Reading and Leeds Festivals taking place at two different sites - tickets flew out of the door in record time for the three-day camping festival.
For Belle and Sebastian's seventh full-length album, they certainly have not failed to impress.
There's something so sublimely real about Indie pop. It's sweet. It's ordinary. It's you and me. It's the badges on your bag, your opposition to emo, your homemade scarf. It's that boy or girl on the bus listening intently through oversized speakers.
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