God Help the Girl

As possibly the only Belle & Sebastian fan here, I am very happy to let you know about singer Stuart Murdoch's latest project is God Help the Girl. All you hipster kids probably already know about this, but the majority of you guys probably haven't heard about this.

Anyway, this is actually a "musical film", written by Murdoch and will also feature some B&S songs as well as originals... And whether you were disappointed in their movie soundtrack efforts with Storytelling (well maybe I was the only one disappointed), the few songs I've heard sounds fantastic. Particularly some excerpts in the "Introduction" video and "Come Monday Night". The later song is an orchestral song that sounds like a 60s girl pop band. At least that's what I think of when I hear Catherine Ireton's vocals over the sweeping music.

I don't know when the film will come out, or if it's even shot, but the soundtrack looks solid. The release dates for the Come Monday Night single to be out on May 11^th (backed with the b-side, "Howard Jones Is My Mozart"), while the full album will be out on June 22^nd on Rough Trade Records*.

You should be excited. This is wonderful news, especially since people get the impression that B&S are broken up. If you discount the one "Are You Coming Over for Christmas" song, they haven't released new material since The Life Pursuit in 2006.

Reading about the new album, it also features vocals from Asya, Smoosh, Neil Hannon, Brittany Stallings, Dina Bankole, Celia Garcia, and Alex Klobouk.

So watch the video, listen to the song, and be happy.

"I was out for a run and I got this tune in my head. It occurred to me that it wasn't a Belle & Sebastian song. I could hear female voices and strings, I could hear the whole thing, but I just couldn't envisage myself singing it with the group."

-- Stuart Murdoch

* I've long had a high respect and love for Rough Trade ever since I discovered them when I discovered the Smiths in the early 90s.