Having found themselves treading water, Scottish outsider-indie icons Belle And Sebastian threw everything up in the air for 2003’s ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’, latching onto a Trevor Horn-assisted power-pop polish that seemed a perfect fit for the band’s euphoric melodies.
However, since that triumph, the group has struggled to harness a direction. The over-keen glam of 2006’s ‘The Life Pursuit’ came to grate a little, while ‘…Write About Love’ (review) was only half a great album.
And so the band finds itself in another make-or-break scenario, turning this time to American producer Ben H Allen for that added sparkle. It almost works too, with the ebullient pop swing of ‘Nobody’s Empire’ (video, below) and mournful strings of ‘The Cat With The Cream’ up with their finest work.
More disappointingly, the best thing about ‘Enter Sylvia Plath’ is its title, and it’s one of a number of songs here that need at least two minutes scything off the end.
‘The Power Of Three’ comes on like a new supergroup – Belle and St. Sebastienne, if you will – highlighting the recurring problem for this band. Since that reboot 12 years ago, they don’t really know what they want to be. So they try all things, and only succeed at some.
6/10
Words: Gareth James
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