Glasgow boasts a pair of pop darlings with similar sounds, history and fan bases. While Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura (which both formed in 1996) have won legions of supporters with caches of musical gems, the new release of Belle & Sebastian Write About Love has finally shown a glaring difference between the two: Only Camera Obscura is the one going places.
It’s been four years since Belle’s last release, but there’s nothing about Write About Love to indicate the band has grown from 2006’s The Life Pursuit — or any of its six other albums for that matter. For those who love B&S this is a not a disappointing development, as band leader Stuart Murdoch has filled the album with gentle harmonies, crowning trumpets and lilting guitars and keyboards. But a new album should be, well, new, and this comes across as eight years too late.
Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John epitomizes this lag — a by the numbers ballad featuring Murdoch and Norah Jones (remember her?) which rises above the din of its steady cymbal. Come on Sister’s looping synths are typical and distracting, and Calculating Bimbo is dead on arrival — there’s no need to make a Muzak version of this one, the band has already provided it.
It’s not all a wash. I Want The World To Stop is catchy with the feel of a breezy afternoon; The Ghost of Rockschool is an inventive composition with an effortless feel even though there’s plenty going on in the background. To be sure Murdoch and mates write good songs and have for years; I can’t hate B&S for what it’s achieved here. But after a certain point the scenery must change before the run becomes rote — and right now Belle & Sebastian have been on the treadmill for some time.
