Belle & Sebastian have spoken about their forthcoming album ‘Belle & Sebastian Write About Love’.
The world is not exactly lacking love songs, yet right at this very minute hundreds of songwriters are busy setting their thoughts to chords. Adding some fresh originality to this glut are Belle & Sebastian.
The Glasgow indie pop collective have been silent since 2006’s ‘The Life Pursuit’ but recently stirred back into life. Travelling out to Los Angeles to record their new album, Belle & Sebastian realised that one topic kept recurring.
Speaking to The Guardian, guitarist Stevie Jackson explained that the title is intended to be simple and direct. “Well Stuart had a song called Write About Love …” he said.
Violin player Sarah Martin picks up: “Stevie went through all the songs. He said ‘That one’s about love, and that one’s about love, and that one’s about love … why not call it Belle and Sebastian Write About Love?’ And I was just like that’s genius, total genius!”
Belle & Sebastian are one of Britain’s largest cult acts, with a massive – and extremely devoted – fan base. With a number of literary references, Stuart Murdoch admits that he once attempted to write poetry.
“I’ve never tried to write a sonnet. I did write a poem once and realised it was nearly a sonnet, but it didn’t have the whatsitcalled … iambic pentameter.”
However the songwriter dismissed any attempts to make ‘Belle & Sebastian Write About Love’ a concept album. Continuing, Stuart Murdoch explained that love is “probably the biggest umbrella. I mean really no forethought went into anything; songs just come out. The actual thought of sitting down and writing about love is a sickening thought, really.”
Following on from recent Murdoch solo project ‘God Help The Girl’ the band reconvened last year. Recruiting guest singers such as Norah Jones, ‘Belle & Sebastian Write About Love’ is another fascinating instalment to the band’s back catalogue.
‘Belle & Sebastian Write About Love’ is out on October 11th.
