Album Of The Month: A Bit of Previous

The cult Glasgow indie pop band headed by Stuart Murdoch return with their first full-length album in seven years. As the customarily witty title A Bit of Previous suggests, the record takes a stroll down the dusty corridors of the past, passing familiar corners and relishing the sound of the same old creaky floorboards.

We’re served a tasting menu of seductive synth pop, folky comfort tunes, and wistful new waveinspired ballads, with each dish boasting Belle and Sebastian’s signature narrative brilliance.

A Bit of Previous is also a nod to reincarnation, which has had a big impact on Murdoch, who states in his liner notes: “There is a firmly held belief in Buddhism that we have been reborn so many times and in so many guises that if we look around us, we are bound to see a person who has been our mother or child in a past life.” It’s a notion he believes would help us drop our prejudices and see the world and other people through a much more empathetic lens.

And that’s what the album is really all about at the end of the day. Here, the Glasgow seven-piece take on ageing with good humour and vitality, offering their music as a firm source of energy and joy, even as the world rips apart around it.

Musically, it’s such an effortlessly hooky and naturally melodic set of ear-pleasing songs, that you won’t even notice when you start humming along; in other words, it’s everything we’ve always loved about Belle and Sebastian.