Hope, Change and Complete Whimsy
The seven-man band from Glasgow, Scotland, bring a three-part trilogy that will explore the ever-popular notion of how to solve our human problems. Belle and Sebastian have prided themselves on not making their music commercialized, rather only having a few listen and the critics knowing who they are. This hasn’t stopped the nearly decade-old band from continuing their musical journey. Out of their nine albums to date, the trilogy isn’t a first for the band. In 1997, the band released a trilogy of EP’s including Dog On Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane in July and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light in October.
Indie and folk pop-rock are thrown together with a psychedelic vibe of synthesizers, cymbals and complete whimsy. “Sweet Dew Lee” starts the five-track part one of How to Solve Our Human Problems. The six and a half minute ’70s dance party track becomes a stable reminder that Stevie Jackson and Stuart Murdoch can still play off one another like two effortlessly beautiful flowers blowing in the wind.
Stand out track “We Were Beautiful” takes a deep, dark depression and turns it into a light, airy melody. Anxiety-driven and nervous, a tense tone is heard but twisted to feel happy-go-lucky, “I was blank as I could be / Hearing voices telling me / ‘Walk away from everything’ / But where was I meant to go? / Far away from those I know / To some desolate below.”
The closing track on part one of the band’s EP, “Everything is Now” mixes ’60s Beatles slow-claps and groovy organ and flute for a somewhat over-the-top hippy play on the developing problems in our world currently. The band chats in unison, “Everything is now / everything is different, now.” The band’s nod to their fans and those who are listening is a tiny example of how Belle and Sebastian have done music since 1996.
Part two of How to Solve Our Human Problems is expected on January 19th and the third part on February 14th. In a growing, fast-paced world such as ours, it’s not an easy task to have a major album release with the publicity bands expect. Belle and Sebastian are playing off of that notion by letting the world now it isn’t about the album sales, but about the world hearing what they have to say. With our world becoming more and more uncertain with each passing day, the band is making that notion their number one priority while letting the listener know that everything is going to be okay if we stand for what we believe in. The trilogy is a way for the band to use everything they have to get the listeners attention, if only for a few minutes.
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