It’s not common practice to have an album’s title track released after said album as a standalone single, but Belle and Sebastian aren’t sticklers for ceremony. Today, the band release new single and video ‘A Bit Of Previous‘, which shares the title of their critically acclaimed 9th album released in May to become their third Top Ten charting LP, as well as accompanying b-side ‘Sometimes’.
Explained alternately as an allusion to the concept of reincarnation in Buddhism and a passing reference to a past romantic relationship by a band member’s father – in either instance, ‘A Bit Of Previous’ touches on how the past can give fresh perspective to our present via dark and jangly upbeat pop that is melancholy as it is purposeful.
Directed and illustrated by Graham Samuels, the concept for the video came from frontman Stuart Murdoch, who says: Serving as a bridge between their new album and another major release to follow soon, ‘A Bit Of Previous’ is another piece in the rich tapestry of Belle and Sebastian’s latest era.
Belle and Sebastian’s 9th album ‘A Bit Of Previous’ was released in May to reach #8 on the UK album chart. It was previewed by single “Unnecessary Drama” which was A-listed on BBC 6 Music and performed on Channel 4’s ‘Sunday Brunch’. Other singles from the album were “Young And Stupid”, “Talk To Me Talk To Me” and Ukraine fundraiser song and video “If They’re Shooting At You”.
‘A Bit Of Previous’ was recorded in Belle and Sebastian’s hometown of Glasgow when plans to fly to Los Angeles in spring of 2020 were scrapped due to the pandemic. Says Murdoch in the liner notes: “We did it together, us and the city. This record was the first ‘full’ LP recording for B&S in Glasgow since ‘Fold Your Hands Child’, 1999. We clocked in every morning, we played our songs, we wrote together, we tried new things, we took the proverbial lump of clay, and we threw it every day.”
The result is one the most diverse, hands-on and thrilling entries in the bands catalogue, self-produced and recorded (with contributions from Brian McNeill, Matt Wiggins, Kevin Burleigh and Shawn Everett). It’s a band nearing their third collective decade with grace, irreverence, musical bravado and lyrical exactitude and emerging as an endless source of energy and reinvention.
TOP TEN NEW ALBUM A BIT OF PREVIOUS OUT NOW
Belle and Sebastian
