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. ‘Indie pop’ is pop music amplified, gritty and up close. It’s those talented friends, troubadours and poets who lived next door to you. It’s not about how perfect or manufactured your image can be. Flaws are embraced.
Belle & Sebastian is one of indie pop’s biggest success stories. This seven-piece from Glasgow make pretty songs, whose catchy melodies and humorous lyrics at times hide stories of sadness and love lost.
The accompanying press release suggests that with this, their seventh album, The Life Pursuit, Belle & Sebastian has made the best record of their career which is now in its tenth year. I’ve kept in mind that press releases are often a little self-congratulatory and that I have only ever heard one Belle & Sebastian album prior to this, Dear Catastrophe Waitress. I will take this album on its own merits and lose indie cred by not being able to call on comparisons to prior albums like Tigermilk, Boy With The Arab Strap and If You’re Feeling Sinister. In the words of David Brent, ‘C’est La Vie’
With The Life Pursuit, songwriter Stuart Murdoch tells us stories of lovelorn, lonely characters. Like Bob Dylan’s often story telling style of lyricism, Murdoch is a great modern story teller. As we listen to The Life Pursuit, we are introduced to a number of characters. Murdoch becomes the telescope through which we, the prying neighbours, look eagerly in on the worlds of these characters. Murdoch happily indulges the inner sticky beak in all of us.
Our first introduction is with the Catholic school girl in Act of the Apostle who is late for class again. She’s been bad and she knows it, but the choirmaster who’s a “bastard” is nice to her because he knows her mother is ill.
One of the many highlights on The Life Pursuit is the country tinged Another Sunny Day, with gorgeous melodies; it showcases Murdoch’s gift of cheeky lyrics. It begins,
Another sunny day, I met you in the garden.
You were digging plants.
I dug you, beg your pardon.
At first, Another Sunny Day seems like a cute love song, but in the last verse the idea is shattered to find a tale of a broken heart. ‘Ghost figures of past, present, future, haunting the heart.’
Ladies and gentlemen, may I now introduce you to a White Collar Boy. He gave into the law and has been doing the time for his crime. On the plus side, he did meet a nice young lass.
You were chained to a girl that could kill you with a look.
It’s a nice way to die; she’s so easy on the eye.
In White Collar Boy, Belle & Sebastian fuse Beach Boys type harmonies with thumping drums and wonderful keyboard sounds to create pop magic.
The Blues are Still Blues is another highlight with the awesomely infectious chorus, ‘I left my lady in the launderette. You can put some money on it, you can place a little bet, that when I see my lady the black will be white and the white will be black. But the blues are still blue.’
Things slow down a little for Dress Up In You with a beautiful horn section leading up to some of the most memorable lyrics on the album. ‘I always loved you. You always had a lot of style. I’d hate to see you on the pile of ‘nearly made it’s’. You’ve got the essence dear. If I could have a second skin, I’d probably dress up in you.’
The rest of The Life Pursuit doesn’t pack quite as much oomph as the first half but is nonetheless enjoyable. Song for Sunshine is a bit of a departure from Belle & Sebastian style, combining dreamy sounds reminiscent of Air with an almost R&B, funk feel.
Funny Little Frog relays an obsessive, stalker story as Murdoch sings: ‘I had a conversation with you at night. It’s a little bit one sided, but that’s alright.’ He later continues, ‘I don’t care to think of you in a physical way.’
Belle & Sebastian’s music is not music for everyone. Some will find their sweetness too much, like that of a Redskin lolly. While others live for the happiness the sugar hit brings and save up their money for more and more trips to the corner store to experience the sweetness again and again.
