The monochrome album cover of Belle and Sebastian’s latest album release, Late Developers, features a young individual in a darkroom holding up a newly printed photograph of the picture used as their 2022 album cover, A Bit of Previous. Much in the way a picture speaks a thousand words, each song of this new album shares its own story rather than each song being a chapter of the same book.
This is a common theme for B+S with Stuart Murdoch, frontman of the band, saying “there are no themes in Belle and Sebastian records…Songs come individually…Sometimes it might seem like there’s a theme afterwards”.
And so, while it may seem there is no central theme to the album, there are some key areas that B+S explore; they reflect on their past (“When we were very young / We loved our selfish fun”), the current way of the world (“is it me or just the world that’s changing”) and the complexity of life and love, without the naivety of youth.
This lack of youthful innocence runs through the album with lyrics referencing the importance of not wasting time (“You don’t have the time to waste time”) and living in the moment (“You can let the past be silent”). It is also seen in the way they discuss relationships, with a more mature perspective taken that shows a less unaware, all-consuming and superficial relationship, but one that is reflective and deep, that has been solidified and fortified over the years by shared memories together, “You used to laugh at ‘til you cried on your bed / At all the stupid things I said”.
Further reflection of themselves and the world is prevalent in ‘When We Were Very Young’ referencing A.A. Milne’s poetry. In this song we enter the mentality of a dissatisfied commuter trying to feel satisfied with life now, “I wish I could be content with the football scores / I wish I could be content with the daily chores”.
This despondent nature to the trivialities and routine of life is also seen in ‘Juliet Naked’, particularly the line “You’re Stepford to my Goffin and King // singing will you still love me?”. A reference to Gerry Coffin and Carole King’s (married then divorced) ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ recorded by the Shirelles in 1960 feels like a very B+S reference which compliments their often ‘60s chamber pop sound. Coffin and King also wrote ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday’ for the Monkeeys, which is an example of “Stepford” Suburbia commenting on how the idyllic view of life in the suburbs is false and instead presents it as a mundane existence.
Overall, the album comes across as very B+S, a reflection of the realities of life. Although these reflections can be repetitive, they do not present them in a depressing way but rather as an acknowledgement of being glad to be where they are now; a nostalgic yet happy and grateful existence.
Image “Belle and Sebastian, Brooklyn, 2013” by Genial23 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.