Review Summary: Nothing ventured, nothing gained; forward’s the only way to go!
Expectations are a bitch. It seems to be a subconscious thing that a lot of us do: criticizing an album for not living up to the potential of the one previous to it, despite it still being a wholly enjoyable experience. I find myself committing this cardinal error in judgment occasionally. It’s much like my original unfounded contempt towards Brand New’s
Daisy, an album I couldn’t help but column next to
The Devil And God... and criticize harshly for being different and superfluous. Belle And Sebastian’s previous two albums
The Life Pursuit, and
Dear Catastrophe Waitress were both astonishing records that utilized a large array of instruments and brilliantly thought out lyrical themes that were both broad in scope and sound. Both albums were very well received by critics from various publications and were well liked within the respective indie-crowd. So then, it’s safe to say that
Write About Love had large shoes to fill. The query then is: does it live up to the success of its older brothers?
Not quite, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t still a great, well-rounded pop album.
Opening track “I Didn’t See It Coming” is behaviorally indicative of the band becoming more comfortable with delving into even poppier realms. Its opening and closing lyrics of “Make me dance, I want to surrender” are a testament to this. Here they relinquish themselves to the anthemic beat of the drums and guitar melody and it’s positively irresistible. However, while gratifying, it also seems a bit disparaging in that it’s so effortless that the vocal interplay comes off as a little pedestrian - almost as if they are too comfortable. Stuart’s vocals are somewhat lazy and under-par, whereas Sarah’s mellifluous voice is fitting; the song as a whole would have been a lot more enjoyable had she sang all of it.
There are two guest performances from Norah Jones and Carey Mulligan. The former appears on “Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John”, which is a down-trodden and unimaginative song of yearning, while the latter “Write About Love” is energetic and uplifting. The lyrical content throughout the album is ordinary by Belle And Sebastian’s standards, but
Write About Love isn’t completely devoid of sophistication. “Calculating Bimbo”, for example, is both riveting and confusing at the same time. Put simply: it’s ironic. The song treads slowly vocally and instrumentally and opens dully with Stuart’s monotonous lull of “A lack of understanding / you took for being lazy / I was just being lazy / I'm even doing it now.” The protagonist’s lyrics match the tempo of the song perfectly and make the song conceptually interesting, even though it might come off as less-than-engaging to some (that’s the point). Stuart concludes with “I pause for an effect”, during which he quite literally pauses before the proceeding “you calculating bimbo / I wish you'd let the past go”. Rather than an unpleasant tone, he sounds exasperated. This isn’t something that catches the ear right away, but after successive plays, it’s clear that certain songs on
Write About Love are sung in a different tone than what’s lyrically suggested, such as the aforementioned “I Didn’t See It Coming”.
Belle And Sebastian have a tendency of putting at least one completely boring or off-kilter song on each of their albums, and
Write About Love is no exception. It’s unbeknown to me as to why there’s a random renaissance-flute solo inserted in the middle section of “Read The Blessed Pages”; despite it being an interesting aesthetic choice it’s so left-field that it’s not even funny. It doesn’t fit well at all. Thankfully the album recovers gracefully with proceeding tracks “I Can See Your Future” and “Sunday’s Pretty Icons”. The former is the most enjoyable song on the entire album: it starts with an interesting trumpet solo before entering the album’s most poppy section. “I Can See Your Future” proves Sarah Martin to be a distinguished vocalist who should both sing on more tracks during this album and, respectively, do more singing on each and every track. She is completely in sync with the music around her as she sings “Forward’s the only way to go / you catch me up, we’ll take it slow / I can see your future / there’s nobody around.” The latter is funky with its resounding guitar melody and keyboard outro. Here the prominence given to both male and female vocals is perfect; Sarah’s vocals are slightly downplayed, but it’s a very fitting harmonization, and a lovely way to conclude the album.
In the end, I’m just as susceptible as the rest of you when it comes to expecting too much from a particular band whose other efforts have been a lot more engaging in almost every possible way, and my rating is hindered and weighted slightly as a result. We shouldn’t set our standards as high as we do, but we do and will continue to; at least I can acknowledge and admit that I’m no exception, but as it stands, Belle And Sebastian have still released an album worth getting excited over that deals with the coming of age and reminiscing, even if it’s not as extravagant as
The Life Pursuit and other releases. Forget about what this album could have been, or should have been, and indulge in the overtly poppy nature of it, because, despite its inane qualities, there are still plenty of moments to fawn over.
Matt Recommends:
I Didn’t See It Coming
Come On Sister
I Can See Your Future
Sunday’s Pretty Icons
