Bailterspace - April '23 North American Tour
Today, Bailterspace have announced several tour dates on the East and West Coast slated for April 2023. The tour follows their first American performance in many years last Summer at NYC's Mercury Lounge, supporting their newest album 'Concret' as well as the recent 25th anniversary of their landmark LP 'Wammo.' West Coast dates are on sale today and East Coast dates will be on sale this Friday at 10am EST.
Purchase / Stream Limited Orange 'Wammo' LP
Purchase 'Concret' Directly From Bailter Space
Bailter Space on Tour
Friday, April 22 Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco CA *
Saturday, April 23 Zebulon, Los Angeles CA #
Sunday, April 24 Artifice, Las Vegas NV
Wednesday, April 26th at Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia PA
Thursday, April 27 DC9, Washington DC
Friday, April 28 Mercury Lounge, New York NY
* w/ Terry Gross
# w/ Flat Worms
+ w/ Orange Eats Creeps
Bailter Space Online
Bandcamp
Algiers - "I Can't Stand It!" (feat. Samuel T. Herring & Jae Matthews)
Stream / Download "I Can't Stand It!"
Pre-order 'SHOOK'
(Algiers, photo: Ebru Yildiz)
(Jae Matthews of Boy Harsher, photo by Yulissa Benitez)
(Samuel T. Herring of Future Islands, photo by Justin Flythe)
Today, Algiers release new single “I Can’t Stand It!”, taken from their forthcoming new album 'SHOOK', released February 24th on Matador. The song features Samuel T. Herring (Future Islands) and Jae Matthews (Boy Harsher). It samples fellow Atlanta artist Lee Moses’ 1971 song, “What You Don’t Want Me To Be”.
“I Can’t Stand It!” was written and produced by frontman Franklin James Fisher, who says: “It’s a very personal song about a devastating loss of someone I believed to be the love of my life which nearly ended in my suicide. I think the song’s narrative arc reflects the sense of dread and the path that led me to that moment. She put on “What You Don’t Want Me To Be” the first time I heard it and I knew immediately that I was going to sample it—I just couldn’t have known the result would be a song about our own end. But every time I sing that song now it feels like I heal a little bit more.”
Jae Matthews says: "I wanted to give Algiers not so much a narrative, but a recollection of a feeling. That abstract evocation that comes when you think about someone who broke yr heart and how that pain still tethers you."
Algiers on tour (new dates in bold) :
Thursday, February 9 Workman’s Dublin IE
Wednesday, February 15 Botanique, Brussels BE
Thursday, February 16 Salzhaus, Winterthur CH
Friday, February 17 Bronson, Ravenna IT
Saturday, February 18 Capitol, Pordenone IT
Monday, February 20 Kino Siska, Ljubjana SL
Tuesday, February 21 Flex, Vienna AT
Wednesday, February 22 Posthof, Linz AT
Friday, February 24 Lucerna, Prague CZ
Saturday, February 25 Niebo, Warsaw PL
Wednesday, March 1 Beatpol, Dresden DE
Thursday, March 2 Hole44, Berlin DE
Friday, March 3 Forum, Bielefeld DE
Saturday, March 4 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE
Sunday, March 5 Club Volta, Cologne DE
Tuesday, March 7 Petit Bain, Paris FR
Wednesday, March 8 The Dome, London UK
Thursday January 26 Washington’s Foco, Fort Collins CO
March 15-17 SXSW, Austin TX
Sunday, March 19 Rebel Lounge, Phoenix AZ
Monday, March 20 Soda Bar, San Diego CA
Tuesday, March 21 Knitting Factory NOHO, Los Angeles CA
Thursday, March 23 Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco CA
Saturday, March 25 Show Bar at Revolution Hall, Portland OR
Sunday, March 26 Madame Lou’s, Seattle WA
Wednesday, March 29 7th St Entry, Minneapolis MN
Thursday, March 30 Sleeping Village, Chicago IL
Friday, March 31 Whirling Tiger, Louisville KY
Sunday, April 2 Big Ears Festival, Knoxville TN
Monday, April 3 The Pinhook, Durham NC
Tuesday, April 4 DC9, Washington DC
Wednesday, April 5 PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia PA
Thursday, April 6 Racket, New York NY
Friday, April 7 Casa del Popolo, Montreal QC
Saturday, April 8 The Garrison, Toronto ON
Algiers Online
Website
Boy Harsher Online
Website
Future Islands Online
Website
Snail Mail - Spring '23 US Tour
Stream / Purchase 'Valentine'
Following her five-night, sold-out "Valentine Festival" hometown residency at Baltimore's Ottobar next month, Snail Mail will be back on the road this spring, performing shows across the US and making stops at Coachella, Shaky Knees, Mission Creek, and Governor’s Ball festivals. Water From Your Eyes and Dazy will support on headline dates. Find tickets HERE.
Fri, February 10 Snail Mail’s Valentine Festival, Baltimore MD SOLD OUT
Sat, February 11 Snail Mail’s Valentine Festival, Baltimore, MD SOLD OUT
Sun, February 12 Snail Mail’s Valentine Festival, Baltimore, MD SOLD OUT
Mon, February 13 Snail Mail’s Valentine Festival, Baltimore, MD SOLD OUT
Tues, February 14 Snail Mail’s Valentine Festival, Baltimore, MD SOLD OUT
Friday, April 7 Mission Creek Festival, Iowa City IA
Saturday, April 8 Slowdown, Omaha NE #
Monday, April 10 Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins CO #
Tuesday, April 11 Fox Theatre, Boulder CO #
Wednesday, April 12 Soundwell, Salt Lake City UT #
Thursday, April 13 AREA15, Las Vegas NV #
Saturday, April 15 Coachella, Indio CA
Sunday, April 16 Fremont Theatre, San Luis Obispo CA #
Tuesday, April 18 Cargo Concert Hall, Reno NV #
Wednesday, April 19 Goldfield Trading Post, Roseville CA %
Thursday, April 20 Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz CA %
Saturday, April 22 Coachella, Indio CA
Sunday, April 23 Yucca North, Flagstaff AZ #
Monday, April 24 The Lowbrow Palace, El Paso TX #
Tuesday, April 25 Sister, Albuquerque NM #
Thursday, April 27 The Jones Assembly, Oklahoma City OK #
Friday, April 28 George's Majestic Lounge, Fayetteville AR #
Saturday, April 29 Black Lodge, Memphis TN #
Monday, May 1 The Vogue, Indianapolis IN #
Tuesday, May 2 Woodward Theater, Cincinnati OH #
Thursday, May 4 123 Pleasant Street, Morgantown WV #
Saturday, May 6 @ The Ramkat, Winston-Salem NC #
Sunday, May 7 Shaky Knees Festival, Atlanta GA
Saturday, June 10 Governor’s Ball Festival, New York NY
# w/ Water From Your Eyes + Dazy
% w/ Water From Your Eyes
Snail Mail Online
Website
Water From Your Eyes / Matador
(photo : Christy Bush)
Matador Records is excited to welcome Brooklyn, NYC duo Water From Your Eyes to the label, with a new album due in the first half of 2023.
To mark the occasion, Water From Your Eyes will host a weekly live residency in New York throughout March. Tickets are free and available here. The band has also launched a newsletter, which you can sign up for here.
Water From Your Eyes will also headline shows in London, Brighton, Paris and Brussels before supporting Interpol in Spain and Portugal throughout February.
On the matter of joining the label, the band provided the following words
“This is all very crazy and we aren’t exactly sure what to say besides that it’s incredibly exciting and we are so fortunate to be working with such an amazing group of people. Neither one of us has fully processed the situation but I’m sure that this announcement will bring us closer to grasping reality—as much as the two of us are capable of such a task. We are so grateful to have this opportunity and there are not enough words in the English language to encapsulate our feelings of gratitude at this time. Nevertheless, thanks a bunch. This rocks.”
The ever-evolving project of Rachel Brown (they/them) and Nate Amos (he/him), Water From Your Eyes have released a stream of confoundingly anarchic, dizzyingly inventive, and increasingly recognised experimental pop music. The duo formed in Chicago in 2016 and are now based in Brooklyn.
The band’s 2021 breakout Structure, led by singles “When You’re Around” and "“Quotations”” (not be confused with the similarly titled ”Quotations”’ on the same album), was described by Pitchfork in their Rising feature as "... organized chaos built from the remnants of distorted post-punk, glitchy dance music, inquisitive orchestrals, and snatches of Exquisite Corpse-like word collages". “It holds your gaze long after the mystery fades, “ the album review stated, “channeling a powerful sense of empathy to mesmerizing effect."
Also released in 2021, 'Somebody Else’s Songs' (a reference to the band’s own 2019 album 'Somebody Else’s Song' that won them early attention) was a collection of transmogrified covers encompassing Eminem, Tears For Fears, OMC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joe Jackson and Nico. The band member’s individual solo projects, Thanks For Coming (Brown), and This Is Lorelei (Amos), highlight further shades of the duo’s respective fascinations and personalized output.
Water From Your Eyes On Tour, New Dates in Bold
Friday, January 20 Genghis Cohen, Los Angeles CA *
Friday, February 3 The Lexington, London UK +
Monday, February 6 The Prince Albert, Brighton UK &
Friday, February 10 PopUp!, Paris FR
Saturday, February 11 Witloof Bar, Brussels BE
Wednesday, February 15 Sala Capitol, Santiago de Compostela ES @
Thursday, February 16 Lav, Lisboa PT @
Saturday, February 18 São Mamede, Guimarães PT @
Sunday, February 19 Escenario Santander, Santander ES @
Monday, February 20 La Riviera, Madrid ES @
Tuesday, February 21 La Riviera, Madrid ES @
Thursday, February 23 Sala Razzmatazz, Barcelona ES @
Friday, February 24 Mamba!, Murcia ES @
Saturday, February 25 Sala Paris 15, Málaga ES @
Thu, Mar 16 - NYC Residency Night 1 at Secret Location
Fri, Mar 24 - NYC Residency Night 2 @ P.I.T
Fri, Mar 31 - NYC Residency Bowling Night at Melody Lanes
Friday, April 7 Mission Creek Festival, Iowa City IA
Sunday, May 7 Shaky Knees Festival, Atlanta GA
* w/ PENDANT and 24HR Joe
+ w/ Ciel
& w/ Plantoid
@ w/ Interpol
Water From Your Eyes Online
Bandcamp
Out Today : Belle and Sebastian - 'Late Developers'
(photo : Anna Isola Crolla)
stream / purchase 'Late Developers'
Four days following its announcement, Belle and Sebastian today release new album Late Developers. Listen/purchase HERE. Single “I Don’t Know What You See In Me” (“a chorus so smilingly catchy it sounds like they could be thinking of following John Lydon to the Eurovision song contest” – Evening Standard) had its radio debut on Zoe Ball’s Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, and the track “When We Were Very Young” is currently on the BBC 6 Music A-List.
The band will be hosting an album listening party on YouTube at 1pm GMT today, with members taking part in the live chat
Watch the video for “I Don’t Know What You See In Me” HERE.
'Late Developers' has already been described as, “full of unexpected moments that bring out their best" (Uncut).
Arriving almost back-to-back to 2022’s Top Ten album ‘A Bit of Previous’, ‘Late Developers’ comes on like its predecessor’s sun-kissed cousin. It is a full-hearted embrace of the band's brightest tendencies that is not only fresh and immediate but possessing of that Belle and Sebastian je ne sais quoi of a group that will always be there for you with the perfect word or melody for the moment, while admitting tunefully that “Every girl and boy / each one is a misery” (“When The Cynics Stare Back From The Wall”).
orange vinyl edition available at the Matador webstore, Belle and Sebastian webstore, Bandcamp and Independent record stores.
Belle and Sebastian on Tour :
Tuesday, April 25 Metropolitan Theatre, Mexico City MX
Friday, April 28 Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee WI
Saturday, April 29 Majestic Theatre, Detroit MI
Sunday, April 30 The Athenaeum Theatre, Columbus OH
Tuesday, May 2 History, Toronto ON
Wednesday, May 3 Bronson Centre, Ottawa ON
Thursday, May 4 Higher Ground, Burlington VT
Friday, May 5 The State Theatre, Ithaca NY
Saturday, May 6 College Street Music Hall, New Haven CT
Monday, May 8 Basilica Hudson, Hudson NY
Tuesday, May 9 White Eagle Hall, Jersey City NJ
Wednesday, May 10 The National, Richmond VA
Friday, May 12 The Eastern, Atlanta GA
Saturday, May 13 St. Augustine Amphitheatre, St. Augustine FL
Sunday, May 14 Culture Room, Ft. Lauderdale FL
Monday, May 15 Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg FL
Wednesday, May 17 Saturn, Birmingham AL
Thursday, May 18 The Pageant, St. Louis MO
Friday, May 19 Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo MI
Sunday 2 July: 3Olympia, Dublin
Monday 3 July: Limelight1, Belfast
Wednesday 5 July: Newcastle, O2 City Hall
Thursday 6 July: Hull, University Union Asylum
Saturday 8 July: Liverpool, Olympia
Sunday 9 July: Edinburgh, Usher Hall
Monday 10 July: Aberdeen, Beach Ballroom
Wednesday 12 July: Sheffield, O2 Academy
Thursday 13 July: Oxford, O2 Academy
Friday 14 July: Birmingham, O2 Institute
Saturday 15 July: Cardiff, Great Hall
Monday 17 July: London, Roundhouse
Tuesday 18 July: London, Roundhouse
Wednesday 19 July: Brighton Dome
Friday 21 July: Manchester Academy
Saturday 22 July: Cambridge, Corn Exchange
Belle and Sebastian online:
Official site
Yo La Tengo - "Aselestine"
(Photo: Cheryl Dunn)
Stream / Download "Aselestine"
Pre-order 'This Stupid World'
On February 10th, Matador Records will release ‘This Stupid World,’ the brilliant sixteenth album (and, to be honest, the sixteenth brilliant album) by Yo La Tengo. To help fix this date more firmly in the minds of the public, we today offer a new single, the gentle and atmospheric “Aselestine,” which features a lead vocal by Georgia Hubley.
Shortly following the album’s release, the band will embark on a tour of the US and Europe. Find a complete itinerary below.
Yo La Tengo on Tour
Wednesday, February 15 Neptune Theatre, Seattle WA
Thursday, February 16 Neptune Theatre, Seattle WA
Friday, February 17 Wild Buffalo, Bellingham WA - SOLD OUT
Sunday, February 19 Wonder Ballroom, Portland OR
Monday, February 20 Wonder Ballroom, Portland OR
Wednesday, February 22 The Fillmore, San Francisco CA - SOLD OUT
Friday, February 24 The Fillmore, San Francisco CA - SOLD OUT
Saturday, February 25 Teragram Ballroom, Los Angeles CA - SOLD OUT
Sunday, February 26 Teragram Ballroom, Los Angeles CA - SOLD OUT
Monday, February 27 Teragram Ballroom, Los Angeles CA - SOLD OUT
Thursday, March 9 Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro NC
Friday, March 10 Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro NC - SOLD OUT
Saturday, March 11 Orange Peel, Asheville NC
Monday, March 13 The Basement East, Nashville TN
Tuesday, March 14 The Basement East, Nashville TN
Thursday, March 16 Jefferson Theater, Charlottesville VA
Friday, March 17 Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA
Saturday, March 18 Brooklyn Steel, Brooklyn NY
Sunday, March 19 9:30 Club, Washington DC - SOLD OUT
Tuesday, March 21 Mr. Smalls, Pittsburgh PA
Wednesday, March 22 Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland OH
Friday, March 24 Metro, Chicago IL
Saturday, March 25 Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee WI
Sunday, March 26 First Avenue, Minneapolis MN
Monday, April 10 3Olympia, Dublin IE
Wednesday, April 12 New Century Hall, Manchester UK
Thursday, April 13 SWX, Bristol UK
Friday, April 14 The London Palladium, London UK
Sunday, April 16 Ancienne Belgique, Brussels BE
Tuesday, April 18 Paradiso, Amsterdam NE
Wednesday, April 19 LantarenVenster, Rotterdam NE - SOLD OUT
Thursday, April 20 Uebel & Gefaehrlich, Hamburg DE
Friday, April 21 Bremen Teater, Copenhagen DK
Sunday, April 23 Gloria Theatre, Cologne DE
Monday, April 24 Meetfactory, Prague CZ
Tuesday, April 25 Festaal Kreuzberg, Berlin DE
Thursday, April 27 La Cigale, Paris FR
Saturday, April 29 Sala Apolo, Barcelona ES
Sunday, April 30 Warm Up Festival, Murcia ES
Tuesday, May 2 Warner Music The Music Station Pricipe Pio, Madrid ES
Wednesday, May 3 Santana 27 Bilbao ES
Thursday, May 4 Rockschool Barbey, Bordeaux FR
Yo La Tengo online
Bettie Serveert - 'Palomine' 30th Anniversary Edition
(photo by Lee To Sang)
Kicking off Matador’s Revisionist History Series for 2023, today we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Bettie Serveert’s debut album, ‘Palomine’. Heralded in its original four-star review by Rolling Stone as "untamed and free as pop gets,” this 1993 classic will see its first pressing by Matador since the album's original release on June 23rd on limited-edition translucent orange vinyl, accompanied by the “Brain-Tag” 7”, which was included with the original pressing.
(stream / preorder 'Palomine')
A deluxe digital edition of the album is out today on streaming services, featuring three era-appropriate bonus songs (two of which are drawn from the ‘Brain-Tag’ 7”) – “Smile”, “Maggot”, and “Get The Bird.” Newly remastered versions of the music videos for “Kid’s Allright,” “Palomine,” and “Tom Boy” are available to watch on YouTube HERE.
“Looking back on recording the Palomine album, we were as green as grass,” say the band’s Carol van Dyk and Peter Visser, “but we loved music and most of all, we loved playing our own songs. When we started our band in the summer of ’91, we never had any ambitions, never thought about a 'career' in music, beyond maybe playing a gig or two. But then Matador Records responded to our 1st demo, offering us a record deal, which started the ball rolling and it changed our lives forever! ‘Pal o’ mine’ will always be like a dear friend to us and even after 30 years, we still enjoy playing those songs.”
While a debut album, ‘Palomine’ marked the second time around for Bettie Serveert. The band first formed in Arnhem in 1986, first calling themselves Betty Serveert, with bassist Herman Bunskoeke, guitarist Peter Visser, and singer/guitarist Carol van Dyk. At that time, Bunskoeke and Visser were also playing in a more established band, De Artsen, and decided to focus on their main gig. Betty Serveert ceased to exist after 6 months and van Dyk joined up as De Artsen’s sound engineer.
By late 1990 De Artsen had split. Bettie Serveert, as they now called themselves, reconvened, joined by drummer Berend Dubbe. A seven-song demo was recorded in December 1991 and one copy ended up in our one-room lower Broadway office.
It’s important to note that nobody in this band is named “Bettie Serveert.” The name – which translates into “Bettie served” (as in tennis) – was suggested by drummer Berend Dubbe, who had seen a tennis-instruction book by Dutch tennis player, Betty Stöve.
The reissue serves as the latest entry in Matador Records’ Revisionist History series, our ongoing campaign to jog the record-buying (and streaming!) public’s memory about our many catalog items now poised to celebrate a significant anniversary.
(art by Jeff Mahannah)
"Tom Boy" (directed by Jesse Peretz)
"Kid's Alright" (directed by Jesse Peretz)
"Palomine" (directed by Tamara Davis)
‘Palomine (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)’
- Leg
- Palomine
- Kid's Allright
- Brain-Tag
- Tom Boy
- Under The Surface
- Balentine
- This Thing Nowhere
9Healthy Sick
10 Sundazed to the Core
11 Palomine (Small)
12 Smile
13 Maggot
14 Get The Bird
‘Palomine’ LP:
Side A:
- Leg
- Palomine
- Kid’s Allright
- Tom Boy
- Under The Surface
Side B:
- Balentine
- This Thing Nowhere
- Healthy Sick
- Sundazed to The Core
- Palomine (small)
‘Brain-Tag’ 7” Tracklist:
Side A
1.Brain Tag
Side B
1. Smile
2. Get The Bird
Bettie Serveert online
Website
Bandcamp
Coming January 13 - Belle and Sebastian - 'Late Developers'
Belle and Sebastian hit the ground running in 2023 with the new album 'Late Developers',released this Friday, January 13th . The first single "I Don’t Know What You See In Me" can be heard now. One of the band’s most unabashedly infectious pop offerings to date, it is also their first co-write, featuring young pop composer Wuh Oh (Peter Ferguson).
Says frontman Stuart Murdoch: "I was bicycling across Scotland last summer, listening to a mix of this song. It was written and produced for us by our friend Pete ‘Wuh Oh’ Ferguson. As I listened to it, I felt lucky to be the first person to get to sing this song. I let my voice swoop and soar in ways that it maybe hasn’t before. And as I continued through fields of gold and green I allowed myself to forget it was Belle And Sebastian,
and pretend it was the latest hit on some random radio station. All music is escape, and perhaps we managed to escape a little further than usual with this unexpected tune.Thanks Pete!"
Arriving almost back-to-back to 2022’s Top Ten album ‘A Bit of Previous’, ‘Late Developers’ comes on like its predecessor’s sun-kissed cousin. It is a full-hearted embrace of the band's brightest tendencies that is not only fresh and immediate but possessing of that Belle and Sebastian je ne sais quoi of a group that will always be there for you with the perfect word or melody for the moment, while admitting tunefully that “Every girl and boy / each one is a misery” (“When The Cynics Stare Back From
The Wall”). “Juliet Naked” channels frantic Billy Bragg-energy with rugged electric guitar and a football stadium worthy chant from Stuart Murdoch. The aforementioned “When The Cynics Stare Back From The Wall” is an unearthed 1994-era pre-Belle and Sebastian gem, with help from Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell. " So In The Moment” is
breathless psychedelic pop that is arguably one of Stevie Jackson’s best ever songs. “When We Were Very Young” is Smiths-esque jangle rock that is bittersweet, devotional and yearning: “I wish I could be content / With the football scores / I wish I could be content with my daily chores / With my daily worship of the sublime”.
(photograph : Anna Isola Crolla)
presave / preorder 'Late Developers'
stream / download "I Don't Know What You See In Me"
"I Don't Know What You See In Me" - video
‘Late Developers’ Track List
- Juliet Naked
- Give A Little Time
- When We Were Very Young
- Will I Tell You A Secret
- So In The Moment
- The Evening Star
- When You’re Not With Me
- I Don’t Know What You See In Me
- Do You Follow
- When The Cynics Stare Back From The Wall
- Late Developers
Do you love Belle and Sebastian?
When you look at the cover of one of their records do you instantly get transported to a much-improved state of mind?
Have you found yourself in a dimly lit bar screaming at the top of your lungs over the DJ that YES, “STARS OF TRACK AND FIELD” IS AN ALL-TIME ALBUM OPENER BUT IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT “I DIDN’T SEE IT COMING” MIGHT BE EVEN BETTER???? to your friends who don’t know why the fuck you’re getting so worked up about Belle and Sebastian right now, man?
Do you get a little spring in your step every time you picture them playing the title track from The Boy With The Arab Strap to a room packed like a sardine tin with smiling faces and dancing bodies?
Did you also first fall in love with Belle and Sebastian in 2015 wandering around Belfast in the freezing rain listening to If You’re Feeling Sinister on repeat, only removing your hand from the warmth of your pocket to bring the second track back because the lyric “If I remain passive and you just want to cuddle then we should be okay and we won’t get in a muddle” is killing you and you can’t understand how you haven’t been listening to this band your entire life? No, but something like that maybe?
If you love Belle and Sebastian, 2022’s A Bit of Previous was a surprise gift that felt earned in the midst of some tough-ass times. Belle and Sebastian have already given us a bounty of classic records, so with the previous half-decade’s output – scattered EP’s, soundtracks, and a live record that doubles as a greatest hits collection – you would be forgiven for assuming there was nothing left in the tank and it was time to fire up the tour bus for some album anniversary shows. But you’d be wrong. Turns out the band spent the bleakest parts of peak pandemic times with each other, harnessing the magnitude of an unthinkable situation and the solitude of rides on an empty train car to distant areas of a beautiful snow-covered city. They transmogrified that energy into beams of joy, heartbreak, truth, hope, spirituality, loss and love shining through every moment. It was as if we had been wandering through a cold, dark, seemingly infinite forest until out of nowhere Belle and Sebastian appeared, waiting in the doorway of a warm and familiar space. A space that was previously designated for rehearsal and mail-order, but is currently wallpapered with A4 paper bearing potential song titles. As bass and kick drum patterns pump through the wall, the band invites you in from the cold – not to lie and tell you everything is going to be okay, but to let you know that you are not alone.
SO HOW LUCKY ARE WE THAT THEY WERE MAKING TWO RECORDS ALL ALONG?!
Recorded in the same sessions as A Bit of Previous, Late Developers doesn’t feel like a collection of lesser-than songs that weren’t good enough to go on the “real” record (I’m looking at you, System of a Down’s Hypnotize!). Rather, it’s an embrace of the freedom that comes with a jumbo-sized canvas, skilled students left unsupervised to paint whatever picture they feel like.
While I shudder to do the thing in a bio where I try to describe music to you with words, Late Developers takes you on a journey as the band floats through genres with ease – from the frantic Billy Bragg-with-hella-flute-energy of the opening track, “Juliet Naked,” and what I think might be Stevie Jackson’s best song (“So in the Moment”), into a legit all-out radio-ready dance party in the third quarter of the record (“When You’re Not With Me,” “Do You Follow”) which includes a Belle & Sebastian first, a co-write with young pop composer Pete Ferguson (“I Don’t Know What You See in Me”). They then unearth a 1994-era pre-Belle and Sebastian tune, “When the Cynics Stare Back From the Wall” with the help of Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell right before they bring you home at the end with a true fuckin' bop (“Late Developers”).
This sunny musical disposition is regularly confronted by the reality that sometimes life and love do not feel good. Major chords on a harpsichord and plucked guitar breeze by as Stuart Murdoch and Sarah Martin lament in harmony, “the world is killing me / I’m out to sea” (“Will I Tell You a Secret”). Belle and Sebastian have always had a knack for juxtaposing the music and lyrics to express the chaotic washing machine of emotion that accompanies being alive. And there’s an effortlessness to Late Developers that reminds you that you are listening to the experts on this. Shit, on “Evening Star” Stuart casually shows off his two-plus-octave vocal range within the first stanza as if it’s nothing. Keep in mind though, no one is flexing and there’s no pretentiousness here. It always feels like friends in a room together communicating through music and enthusiastically encouraging each other to explore every possible path with fervor and love.
It is beyond remarkable and inspiring that a band 600 years or so into their career can make music that not only feels immediate and effective, but two back-to-back albums that feel like Belle and Sebastian are at the top of their game and will always be there for you, while admitting tunefully that yes, “Every girl and boy, each one is a misery.” But it’s not like their goal is to drag you down into the doldrums of despair. They schemed away in the darkness to create something to be brought into the light. Late Developers makes a convincing argument that Belle and Sebastian will eternally be coaxing you towards inner peace with the perfect word for the moment or a melody that lifts you out of the murk of all that terrifying truth and into a world where you can allow yourself to look at the sun, take a deep breath and exist within that truth, living happy in the best way you can.
- Jeff Rosenstock
orange vinyl edition available at the Matador webstore, Belle and Sebastian webstore, Bandcamp and Independent record stores.
Belle and Sebastian on Tour :
Tuesday, April 25 Metropolitan Theatre, Mexico City MX
Friday, April 28 Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee WI
Saturday, April 29 Majestic Theatre, Detroit MI
Sunday, April 30 The Athenaeum Theatre, Columbus OH
Tuesday, May 2 History, Toronto ON
Wednesday, May 3 Bronson Centre, Ottawa ON
Thursday, May 4 Higher Ground, Burlington VT
Friday, May 5 The State Theatre, Ithaca NY
Saturday, May 6 College Street Music Hall, New Haven CT
Monday, May 8 Basilica Hudson, Hudson NY
Tuesday, May 9 White Eagle Hall, Jersey City NJ
Wednesday, May 10 The National, Richmond VA
Friday, May 12 The Eastern, Atlanta GA
Saturday, May 13 St. Augustine Amphitheatre, St. Augustine FL
Sunday, May 14 Culture Room, Ft. Lauderdale FL
Monday, May 15 Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg FL
Wednesday, May 17 Saturn, Birmingham AL
Thursday, May 18 The Pageant, St. Louis MO
Friday, May 19 Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo MI
Sunday 2 July: 3Olympia, Dublin
Monday 3 July: Limelight1, Belfast
Wednesday 5 July: Newcastle, O2 City Hall
Thursday 6 July: Hull, University Union Asylum
Saturday 8 July: Liverpool, Olympia
Sunday 9 July: Edinburgh, Usher Hall
Monday 10 July: Aberdeen, Beach Ballroom
Wednesday 12 July: Sheffield, O2 Academy
Thursday 13 July: Oxford, O2 Academy
Friday 14 July: Birmingham, O2 Institute
Saturday 15 July: Cardiff, Great Hall
Monday 17 July: London, Roundhouse
Tuesday 18 July: London, Roundhouse
Wednesday 19 July: Brighton Dome
Friday 21 July: Manchester Academy
Saturday 22 July: Cambridge, Corn Exchange
Belle and Sebastian online:
Official site