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As Belle and Sebastian finish work on their ninth studio album (recorded in Atlanta with Ben H. Allen), Matador Records is excited to announce that their vinyl catalog – currently out of print – will be back in print for a limited time in the fall of 2014. The It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career series is an opportunity to revisit the band’s treasured output and unique, consistent aesthetic, as well as an opportunity for fans to complete their collections and enjoy the music via the warmth of vinyl.

Titles include all of the band’s full-length studio albums and compilations (save for the Storytelling soundtrack, which was never released on vinyl in the US) such as Tigermilk (1996), If You’re Feeling Sinister (1996), The Boy With The Arab Strap (1998), Fold Your Hands Child You Walk Like a Peasant (2000), Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003), Push Barman To Open Old Wounds (2005), The Life Pursuit (2006), The BBC Sessions (2008), Write About Love (2010) and The Third Eye Centre (2013).

The long-awaited fourth album from Glasgow's pop wizards after three releases in three years - 2000's Fold Your Hands Child You Walk Like A Peasant - was co-produced by the band alongside Tony Doogan and it's eleven tracks find the group exploring new depths of emotion and melancholy amidst a background of orchestrated strings and Northern soul-inspired horns. – Press Release

“The vocals are delicate and wavering, imbued with a forlorn sweetness. But this apparent flimsiness disguises the savagery of the lyrics. Take “Family Tree,” which comes across like a demented nursery rhyme, all sweet vocals and haunting innocence, but smoking with lyrical anger. Or the wounded resignation of “The Chalet Lines” with lyrics like, “Fuck this, I’ve felt like this for a week / I’d put a knife right into his eyes.” It’s songs like this that dispel any notion that Belle & Sebastian are just a bunch of smart-aleky college students messing around with themes of teenage angst.

While the tone throughout the album is resolutely low-key, the tempo is upped to foot-tapping level on a couple of the tracks with “Women’s Realm” even going so far as to boast a hand-clapping accompaniment. But even these numbers stick firmly in minor keys, retaining that touch of sweet sadness that lingers amongst the songs, a mood which is further marked by the understated instrumentals.” – Popmatters

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