I didn't say anything earlier about the new Belle and Sebastian album, The Life Pursuit, because I wanted to take a few days to absorb it first. Now I have, and here goes:
The Life Pursuit comes as Belle and Sebastian's 8th full album (not including their recent Live album) and, as a result, expectations. It fails to surpass or even meet the intelligence and subtlety of the band's previous albums. The songs are upbeat without being catchy, and vaguely entertaining without being truly funny. In general, the album lacks the underlying cynicism that was so prevalent in Belle and Sebastian's previous works, part of the reason I'm such a huge fan. The songs are contemplative, merely half-formed conclusions set against a fully formed score, as the band uses more instruments than ever on this album (to the point where I wonder if the lack of guitar and piano was purposeful). The album is not as clever as its predecessors in its use of wordplay, though there are occasional moments of insight, such as in "The Blues Are Still Blue":
OTHER REVIEWS
Rolling Stone review (right on)
Pitchfork review (far too positive as far as I'm concerned)
PopMatters review (on it)
review from 75 or less album reviews (*roars at this one*)
review from Raw.Like.Sashimi (hmmm...)
review from Mercurial Sound (agree with this one completely)
Glorious Noise Review (mixed feelings about this one)
The Life Pursuit comes as Belle and Sebastian's 8th full album (not including their recent Live album) and, as a result, expectations. It fails to surpass or even meet the intelligence and subtlety of the band's previous albums. The songs are upbeat without being catchy, and vaguely entertaining without being truly funny. In general, the album lacks the underlying cynicism that was so prevalent in Belle and Sebastian's previous works, part of the reason I'm such a huge fan. The songs are contemplative, merely half-formed conclusions set against a fully formed score, as the band uses more instruments than ever on this album (to the point where I wonder if the lack of guitar and piano was purposeful). The album is not as clever as its predecessors in its use of wordplay, though there are occasional moments of insight, such as in "The Blues Are Still Blue":
"When I see my washin' / the Black will be Grey / and the White will be Grey / but the Blues are still Blue"The album is far more into storytelling than Storytelling, ironically, and rarely makes generalizations, preferring exposition. All this does not mean I am not enjoying the album, but I do find it less satisfying than Belle and Sebastian's previous two albums, which I felt were building to something great. Admittedly, I will have soon committed the album's songs to my mental index of Belle and Sebastian songs, and the album will no longer feel like such an offense. Then, I will be caught going to see Belle and Sebastian with the New Pornographers and even singing the album's songs under my breath. Nonetheless, The Life Pursuit will remain a disappointment.
OTHER REVIEWS
Rolling Stone review (right on)
Pitchfork review (far too positive as far as I'm concerned)
PopMatters review (on it)
review from 75 or less album reviews (*roars at this one*)
review from Raw.Like.Sashimi (hmmm...)
review from Mercurial Sound (agree with this one completely)
Glorious Noise Review (mixed feelings about this one)
Labels: Belle and Sebastian, review
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