Review of "Belle & Sebastian Write About Love"

Stuart Murdoch and friends are back. After some time doing other projects and "having lives," the crew has reunited for Write about Love. Written and recorded in a short span of time after touring, this album is, well, everything you expect from a Belle and Sebastian album. That, of course, is a double-edged sword.

The album is, per usual, full of wit and catchy, well-written songs. "Come On Sister" is a personal favorite, as well as "I Want the World to Stop" and "Write About Love." Norah Jones is featured on a very good song, as well, and her whispy and creme-y voice works very well with Murdoch's.

Before this album, Murdoch gave us The Life Pursuit. It was an incredible album, and though it was full of the positives expected from the group, it also had a nice and welcomed stylistic shift. Write about Love has no such shift- it sounds like if Dear Catastrophe Waitress and Tigermilk had a baby- and where the hell did the funk go? Also playing into Belle & Sebastian cliches and tropes, occasionally, are the lyrics: love is like a blossoming flower, yeah, but it just causes listeners to cringe when said on this album.

Overall, its a solid listen. There is enough here to enjoy the album, but some people are just getting bored of it all, I guess. I write this review with a might bit of regret- I think we need a group like B&S around to just keep pumping out good tunes while other groups do the experimenting. But this album feels like Stuart has lost the effort he put forth on records like Waitress and Tigermilk.