Over the last few years, Glaswegian indie pop hero Stuart Murdoch has been splitting his time between Belle and Sebastian and his musical film project God Help the Girl. Now that the movie has finally premiered at Sundance, he is shifting his focus firmly back to Belle and Sebastian and getting to work on a new album.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, Murdoch revealed that the band have been writing in Glasgow, with recording due to begin in March. He said, "I hope it will be out by autumn. If not, we will have failed."
Apparently, one of the songs is called "The Everlasting Muse," and it revisits the character of Eve from God Help the Girl. Interestingly, Murdoch also revealed that the new material is loosely inspired by the long-running Eurovision Song Contest.
He explained:
One of the things I wanted to explore — this might seem a bit facetious, but we have this thing called a Eurovision Song Contest. For example, Abba won in 1974, and that's how they got their big break. And that was really the last great song from Eurovision. Since then it's been kind of a train wreck, but it gives you a window into every little country, and it's the only time that Europe gets together for this big party, and now, especially now, we have all the Russian block, eastern block countries, it's all shifted to the East. So in a sense, I remember saying to the band, I want to do an album that one song feels like it could be the Cyprus entry for 1974. And then next song would be the German entry for 1989, or something like that. You might not see that in the finished songs, but somewhere that's been an inspiration.
Belle and Sebastian's most recent album was 2010's Write About Love. Last year, they released the rarities compilation The Third Eye Centre.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, Murdoch revealed that the band have been writing in Glasgow, with recording due to begin in March. He said, "I hope it will be out by autumn. If not, we will have failed."
Apparently, one of the songs is called "The Everlasting Muse," and it revisits the character of Eve from God Help the Girl. Interestingly, Murdoch also revealed that the new material is loosely inspired by the long-running Eurovision Song Contest.
He explained:
One of the things I wanted to explore — this might seem a bit facetious, but we have this thing called a Eurovision Song Contest. For example, Abba won in 1974, and that's how they got their big break. And that was really the last great song from Eurovision. Since then it's been kind of a train wreck, but it gives you a window into every little country, and it's the only time that Europe gets together for this big party, and now, especially now, we have all the Russian block, eastern block countries, it's all shifted to the East. So in a sense, I remember saying to the band, I want to do an album that one song feels like it could be the Cyprus entry for 1974. And then next song would be the German entry for 1989, or something like that. You might not see that in the finished songs, but somewhere that's been an inspiration.
Belle and Sebastian's most recent album was 2010's Write About Love. Last year, they released the rarities compilation The Third Eye Centre.