Belle & Sebastian Are Back With Surprise Album Due On Friday

Check out “I Don’t Know What You See In Me,” the first taste of the band’s second album in eight months.

By Scott Bernstein Jan 9, 2023 • 7:52 am PST

Belle Sebastian Press January 2023 Crolla

 Photo by Adam Crolla

While Belle & Sebastian went seven years between studio albums leading up to last year’s A Bit Of Previous, the wait for the band’s next LP will be much shorter. The Scotland natives will release Late Developers via Matador this Friday, January 13 and previewed the 11-track set by sharing its lead single “I Don’t Know What You See In Me.”

Late Developers was recorded in the band’s hometown of Glasgow during the same sessions that yielded A Bit Of Previous. “It is a full-hearted embrace of the band’s brightest tendencies that is not only fresh and immediate but possessing of that Belle and Sebastian je ne sais quoi of a group that will always be there for you with the perfect word or melody for the moment, while admitting tunefully that ‘Every girl and boy / each one is a misery’ (‘When The Cynics Stare Back From The Wall’),” noted press materials heralding the release of Late Developers.

Belle & Sebastian penned “I Don’t Know What You See In Me” with composer Wuh Oh (Peter Ferguson) for what is the band’s first co-write. Frontman Stuart Murdoch weighed in on the song, stating:

“I was bicycling across Scotland last summer, listening to a mix of this song. It was written and produced for us by our friend Pete ‘Wuh Oh’ Ferguson. As I listened to it, I felt lucky to be the first person to get to sing this song. I let my voice swoop and soar in ways that it maybe hasn’t before. And as I continued through fields of gold and green I allowed myself to forget it was Belle And Sebastian, and pretend it was the latest hit on some random radio station. All music is escape, and perhaps we managed to escape a little further than usual with this unexpected tune. Thanks Pete!”

“I Don’t Know What You See In Me” arrived with an Andrew Litten-directed video. View the visual via Facebook and stream the track below:

Murdoch and his bandmates kick off their 2023 North American Spring Tour in Mexico with concerts in Guadalajara on April 24 and Mexico City on April 25. Scroll for the dates.

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Late Developers Tracklist

  1. Juliet Naked
  2. Give A Little Time
  3. When We Were Very Young
  4. Will I Tell You A Secret
  5. So In The Moment
  6. The Evening Star
  7. When You’re Not With Me
  8. I Don’t Know What You See In Me
  9. Do You Follow
  10. When The Cynics Stare Back From The Wall
  11. Late Developers
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