Expectation for this, Belle & Sebastian's fifth album, has been so great that when London's premier indie Motown club How Does It Feel To Be Loved?announced that they were going to play tracks from 'Storytelling' almost two months before release, the DJs were accused of "blackmail". Fans showed up in droves, naturally, and "those" negatives of Stuart Murdoch were destroyed, and nothing more was said about the matter.
The fans were right to be excited, of course, as 'Storytelling' contains some of B&S's finest songs since their 'If You're Feeling Sinister' peak. Many were written for Todd Solondz's movie of the same name, although only a few made it onto the final print. It's Solondz's loss.
Instrumentals like 'Fiction' and 'Freak' provide a poignant, piano-led melancholy that manages to be heartbroken and wistful in equal measures, while 'Fuck This Shit' is clearly the group's attempt to pay tribute to the 'Midnight Cowboy' and 'Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid' soundtracks in one fell swoop.
The tracks with vocals (i.e. regular songs) also represent a leap forward for B&S. 'Wandering Alone' sees guitarist Stevie Jackson indulge his Latin fantasies with a track infused with knowing senoritas and pencil moustaches. 'Scooby Driver' is a gang, we-can-do-anything track that feels like it could be lifted from the 'Hairspray' soundtrack. And 'Big John Shaft' pays its respects to the mighty Orange Juice, which seems like a good idea in any circumstances.
The overriding message of 'Storytelling' is that, after a couple of albums where the band were muted slightly by democracy, B&S are firmly back in the hands of their guiding lights, Murdoch and Jackson. The recent departure of cellist Isobel Campbell is bound to take the group in another direction, perhaps with the nascent, yet stunning, songwriting skills of Sarah Martin being brought to the fore. Whatever the future, this album feels fresh, inspiring and utterly out on its own.
