Tom Lynch

It has been ten years since Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David formed Belle and Sebastian in a café in Glasgow, Scotland, a decade since the band--indie-pop lords by definition--released both the "Tigermilk" and "If You're Feeling Sinister" records. Three monumental EPs followed, and then "The Boy with the Arab Strap," the band's biggest widespread hit and, at that point, its strongest effort. The quiet yet volcanic delivery of Murdoch's voice--aided by witty, subtext-heavy lyrics and a mishmash of both reflective and dance-happy songs--drove the band beyond contemporary comparison. Still, it was tough to disagree with Jack Black's review of B&S in 2000's "High Fidelity," as he so quickly and charmingly labeled it "sad bastard music."

That same year the band released "Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like Peasant," churning out another balanced record which included the single "Legal Man." Founding member Stuart David left the band before it scored Todd Solondz's "Storytelling" in 2002, and the Scotlanders left Jeepster and Matador records and went the way of Rough Trade soon after, releasing "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" in October 2003. The band had such a vast history of recorded material that it released a double-disc containing all the EPs and singles last year.

But "The Life Pursuit," the band's new offering, now back on Matador, could be its best as well. A monster collection of thirteen songs--grittier than in its past, this time with an undeniable edge of both experience and newfound confidence--stare you down like the Bad in a six-shooter duel. It's creation at its finest, untarnished and raw, invoking both early Stones and, while more abstractly, vintage Velvet Underground.

"I think it's maybe a bit bolder than some stuff we've done," says pianist and keyboard player Chris Geddes. "I think it may expand on some stuff we've done before. There are more soul-influenced numbers. I don't think we had [a plan of what the record would sound like], certainly not collectively between us. People would be coming in [to the studio] with bits and pieces to get the ball rolling. The general feeling was that we were going to be relying a bit more on orchestration. We had been touring a lot and we just got better playing together as a band. We wanted to bring that to the floor. We wanted to record us playing together, rather than us playing in front of a computer."

A band with as many members as Belle and Sebastian--now seven in all--may run into complications when it comes to collaboration during the songwriting process. "There's a few different ways [that we write songs]," says Geddes. "The main one, seventy-five-to-eighty percent of the time is when Stuart comes in with a thoroughly complete lyrical and melodic idea for a song. He brings it to the band three-quarters finished. People suggest different chord changes, but it's largely him. The other twenty-percent starts with a musical phrase that someone has and brings to the band, and everyone plays it. Especially on this last record--we had our own rehearsal space and Stuart would bring in songs that were still in a very raw stage."

After ten years of record making, the band has hit a stage of adulthood in which it controls its own destiny--not to be pushed around, certainly not to be discarded and dead-set on making a significant impact with each release. "The Life Pursuit" shows that attitude with lovable honesty. "I think a definite lesson we've learned is that we now listen more," Geddes says. "We're making sure everything we play is direct and getting across. To be flexible about what you play on something. You have to be prepared to change a part in the studio, and change it quickly. When trying to make a record based on a live recording, you have to be prepared to revise things. I think as far as letting people play to their strengths we've gotten better. It's quite a balancing act when you've got seven people in the band. But, regardless whether or not everyone is writing the song, people express themselves so they can get the best out of everything."

Belle and Sebastian play on March 10 at the Riviera Theater, 4746 North Racine, (773)275-6800, at 7:30pm. The show is very, very sold out.

(2006-03-07)

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