Fractionals

Now, this makes perfect sense to me. I liked Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant more than most, and honestly didn't (and still don't) understand the more scathing critiques leveled at it. It was far less twee than their previous efforts, which maybe didn't play well, but worked well. 'The Chalet Lines' was fragile, not twee. 'There's Too Much Love' was sarcastic, not twee. 'Nice Day For A Sulk' was, yes, twee, but it was also the first time the band explicitly poked fun at itself. Songs like 'Don't Leave The Light On Baby' show that B&S are finally integrating the classic (not retro, not really) stylings of singles like 'Legal Man' and 'Lazy Line Painter Jane' into their album work. Yes, 'Beyond The Sunrise' is a bit shit (screams b-side to me, at least), but it was portentous, not twee. The other ten songs are uniformly strong and represent a progression in sound, if not necessarily in style. I'm hoping Horn will complete that progression on the new album rather than backsliding(except for 'Big John Shaft', the Storytelling soundtrack wasn't much cop). I love Belle & Sebastian's earlier material, but having them grow up and progress into actual full-fledged pop songwriters seems to me to be a good thing rather than a bad one. Right now, it seems I'm in the minority.