Net Music Review

Write About Love - Belle & Sebastian

In the ever changing world of music there is something reassuring about Belle & Sebastian, despite the constant evolution and re-invention of other artists, Belle & Sebastian seem like an unmoving constant. "Write About Love" or to give its full title, "Belle & Sebastian Write About Love" is the follow up to 2005's "The Life Pursuit" and picks up exactly where it left off, quaint, sometimes twee songs that are well constructed and crafted.

The sound is similar to "The Life Pursuit", perhaps in part due to producer Tony Hoffer returning, although some of the more glam tendencies have been toned down. "I Didn't See It Coming" opens up with a simple drum beat with piano coming in over it and Sarah Martin's voice almost playing call and return with electric guitar before it turns into a mini duet with Stuart Murdoch. It sets the tone perfectly as you slip into familiar Belle & Sebastian territory, all of a sudden the more up-tempo "Come On Sister" kicks off which could easily sit well on this albums predecessor. If it does sometimes sound like you've heard it before it is because you have, but it is testament to the song writing skills of B&S that it still sounds fresh. "Calculating Bimbo" brings the pace down a bit before "I Want The World To Stop" brings it back up and demonstrates B&S at their best in terms of a collective, many elements combining to produce something greater than the sum of it parts without any one thing standing out. (Save for maybe a bass solo, but then even that goes against the norm.)

Perhaps the only disappointment, if you can call it one, is "Little Low, Ugly Jack, Prophet John" the duet with Nora Jones. While it is a good song it suffers from sounding like Stuart Murdoch guesting on a Nora Jones record rather than the other way around and doesn't quite fit with the overall tone of "Write About Love". Still, if all you can find to criticise is nit-picking then it's probably a good sign. Title track "Write About Love" steadies the ship, another duet, this time with Carey Mulligan is a triumph of the collective and has more than a hint of the 60's pop about it. It symbolises what is so wonderful about this album in that it keeps on rewarding you gems and the more you listen to it the more it surprises you. "I'm Not Living In The Real World" is a throwback to early B&S and could quite easily have been from second album "If You're Feeling Sinister"

The next couple of songs, "The Ghost Of Rockschool" and "Read The Blesses Pages" have a more sombre tone and like many B&S songs the lyrics are strongly influenced by Murdoch's relationship with Christianity. They serve as a well timed break before the albums parting shots in the form of "I Can See Your Future" and "Sunday's Pretty Icons" both of which up the pace. The former being another sweet 60's pop song with blazing trumpets, arranged and sung by Sarah Martin and the later being a perfect closing track with Stuart Murdoch's somewhat hushed vocal about "whisky from the year you were born". The album finishes leaving you with a rare feeling, satisfied, but wanting more.