BELLE & SEBASTIAN

How To Solve Our Human Problems 7/10

Revitalising compilation of three recent Eps

Shaking up the old recording routine, this winter Belle & Sebastian released three ePs in consecutive months, subsequently gathering together all 15 tracks on a single album. The format allows a more diverse, experimental sensibility to take wing. Alongside characteristically stylish pop gems like “i’ll Be your Pilot” there’s frosty electronica (“We Were Beautiful”), politicised euro-pop (“The Girl Doesn’t Get it”), fuzzed-up ’60s R&B (“Show me The Sun”) and what sounds like an acoustic Donovan demo (“This is An everlasting Song”). it won’t cure humanity’s ills, but it does a fine job of rejuvenating a band entering its third decade.