This week's RTÉ Radio 1 Album Of The Week is Late Developers, the new album from Scottish indie pop heroes Belle and Sebastian - listen to Late Developers below, via Spotify.
Announced less than a week before release, Late Developers sees frontman Stuart Murdoch and cohorts follow up last year's A Bit Of Previous with a surprise album recorded during the same sessions. Fan of early B&S classics like Tiger Milk and If You're Feeling Sinister will find plenty to enjoy.
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What the critics are saying:
Pitchfork: 'Proving Murdoch's endearing openness to fallibility is Late Developers’ first single, I Don’t Know What You See in Me, crafted uncharacteristically with an outside co-writer, Peter Ferguson aka Wuh Oh. Eerily digestible synth pop with essences of palm-muted guitar and a maniacally catchy refrain, it feels like a late-career attempt to indoctrinate new members of the cult. What risked being a garish embarrassment should end up as a fresh hit for the band’s encore runs. Belle and Sebastian have always been focused on connection, and on Late Developers, they’re unpretentious about sharing that bond and generous in reinforcing it.'
The Guardian: 'When Belle and Sebastian released A Bit of Previous in May, they didn't let on that they’d recorded a second new album at the same time. Whereas last year’s effort was a little underwhelming, Late Developers – released with little in the way of fanfare – is far more pleasing, displaying a lightness of touch and genuine pop nous.'
Irish Examiner: 'As a post-dystopian commemoration of the return to normality, it is first-rate. The LP also marks a new chapter for Belle and Sebastian. Until recently they've been reluctant to reconnect with the DIY indie-disco aesthetic of their 1990s output. Fan-beloved documents such as Tigermilk and the Boy With the Arab Strap represented a chapter they were only too happy to close. Here, though, they go straight fact to the motherlode, with a soundtrack forged largely from whimsy, underdog vim and quiet wonder.'
Listen to this week's RTÉ Radio 1 Recommends playlist below:
