Released: 2022
Take a look in the mirror. Breathe in. Muzz the hair up a bit. Eye up that top you bought a few years ago but have never been brave enough to actually wear. When all this is done and you’ve put those inappropriate shoes on one last time, turn in profile and think to yourself “Yeah, still got it.”
It’s hard for musicians to go through the same process, but they must. How else can you carry on writing and performing, when the monetary rewards for most now are so marginal? Belle and Sebastian have always been one of the country’s most loved indie bands and a Glaswegian institution, but the pandemic hit them hard, both creatively and structurally, but Stuart Murdoch and friends pushed through the doubt, staying at home to produce what would eventually be two albums, 2022’s A Bit of Previous and released nine months later, Late Developers.
Clearly rejuvenated, both would joyously reveal the native up ye attitude of a band happy to dance with the march of time, flitting between moods and styles, rarely settling. Of all the sonic riches on display though it was Prophets On Hold that had a special feeling of warmth, a middle aged disco indie love song that wasn’t about love, or religion, or anything less than holding on. Look in the mirror. You’ve still got it.
The Voice Of Unreason 
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