Name: A Bit of Previous
Brand: Belle and Sebastian

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

OLE1845LPE

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Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

[r23111087]

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Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: Yes

Format detail

With Bonus 7" and Exclusive Sleeve.

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Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2022-05-06

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

PIAS

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

191401184502

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: Yes / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

OLE1845CD

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Extended format: No

Exclusive Sleeve.

{"blocks": [{"data": {"text": "Exclusive Sleeve."}, "type": "paragraph"}]}

191401184526

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

OLE1845LP

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191401184519

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1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

Belle and Sebastian

Genre GB

Indie Pop / Shoegaze

Label GB

Matador

Albums of the Year So Far 2022

Belle & Sebastian is an indie pop band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in January 1996. The band is named after Belle Et Sébastien, a French novel about a boy (Sébastien) and his Pyrénées mountain dog (Belle). The novel became famous and a popular children's television series in France in the late 1960s, and then internationally in the early 1970s.
In October 2014 the band reissued all 11 of their releases, up to that point, under the series heading "The Jeepster Singles Collection", taken from the song with the same name that appeared on their album "Push Barman To Open Old Wounds".
Discover Belle & Sebastian's unique blend of indie pop music and immerse yourself in their enchanting melodies and heartfelt lyrics. With over two decades of creating beautiful music, they have become icons of the genre.

U.S. independent label based in NYC; for company roles and copyrights please consider [l390562] for the USA, [l=Matador Records Ltd.] for the UK company division and the generic company profile relating to either legal entities [l=Matador Records (2)] 
[b]Note that while some Matador releases are exclusive to North America or Europe, they use one numbering system for all releases, so it is not necessary to enter them under separate labels.[/b]

The Matador label began in 1989 when [a=Chris Lombardi] dragged the Austrian duo H.P. Zinker into Wharton Tiers’ Fun City studio to record OLE-001, ...and there was light. Run out of Chris’ New York apartment, Lombardi added artists such as the Dustdevils, Railroad Jerk and Superchunk to the initial roster. Joined by longtime Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy in 1990, Matador experienced its first taste of crazed media attention & big sales with the North American release of Teenage Fanclub’s debut long-player, A Catholic Education. Over the years, the label has moved from shoebox sized offices to larger and larger complexes, the staff has grown from 2 to 24, and the roster has simply exploded. As well as functioning as the North American home to Pavement, Liz Phair and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Matador has helped artists such as Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, Cornelius, Solex, Pizzicato Five, Helium and the Arsonists reach audiences worldwide.

Matador has also served as the North American licensee for a number of exceptional international acts, including Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, Boards of Canada, Red Snapper, Arab Strap and others. Since 1996, Matador has maintained separate offices and staff in London. In addition to supervising the promotion, sales and marketing of Matador titles on the continent, Matador Europe has also licensed recordings from some of North America’s most acclaimed new artists, M. Ward, Sleater-Kinney, Modest Mouse, and Superchunk to name a few.

While Matador has often been characterized (not by the label itself) as an underground or "indie" rock label, over the years, the label’s musical direction has grown, to the point where many hip hop, electronic and experimental acts play as prominent a role in the label’s sound & future as any number of singer/songwriters and rock bands. Sometimes all of the above converge.

During the 1990s, Matador entered into partnerships with [l=Atlantic] and [l=Capitol Records]. In 1999, Lombardi & Cosloy purchased back Capitol's 49% share of the label, and in 2002, [l613604] purchased 50% of the legal entities behind the Matador label / imprint [l390562] and [l291335] and took over Matador's worldwide marketing.

Albums of the Year 2022

A Bit of Previous is the tenth studio album by Belle and Sebastian and their first full-length in seven years. This may be surprising to anyone following the recent life pursuits of the Glasgow 7-piece: a trilogy of EPs; a soundtrack for the directorial debut of The Inbetweeners’ Simon Bird; The Boaty Weekender – a 3000 capacity star-studded four-day music festival on a cruise liner sailing the Mediterranean; a live album showcasing the band’s present-day iteration as savvy main stage entertainers; and in 2020 a collaborative project with fans called ‘Protecting The Hive’. But in all these idiosyncratic endeavours, as intrinsic to the band’s DNA as the stage invasion at the end of each of their shows, a full-length has eluded us.

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&amp;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.”

A Bit Of Previous is a classic Belle and Sebastian album preoccupied with songs and melodies that won’t leave your head and lyrics that can make you smile and ponder and sometimes be melancholic. 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). ‘Young And Stupid’ is a stuttering folk rock earworm that faces the passage of time with wry ennui, ‘Come On Home’ with its warm fireside piano evokes a handing over of the generational baton, while the deceptively feelgood, choir-backed ‘If They’re Shooting At You’ reads like a poignant ode to defiance and survival.

A Bit of Previous is also scattered with big, occasionally delirious pop moments. ‘Unnecessary Drama’ rips through a cacophony of overdriven riffs and a droning harmonica that borders on the unhinged and is one of the band’s heaviest outings since, well, ever. The 140+ bpm ’Talk To Me Talk To Me’ is ablaze with euro synths and keyboard horns as the voices of Murdoch and Martin intertwine on a breathless chorus. ‘Working Boy in New York City’ exists in a parallel universe where the band did in fact make it to California – such is the escapist bliss of its sloping flute and bittersweet funk. On the other side of the spectrum are some of Belle and Sebastian’s most moving ballads. Tender finger-picked paean to a lover ‘Do It For Your Country’ and doo-wop-inflicted ‘Sea Of Sorrow’ showcase Murdoch’s tenor at its most bare and affecting, while Stevie Jackson contributes lovelorn country waltz ‘Deathbed of My Dreams’.

So what is a A Bit of Previous? It’s a bit of everything, and a lot of what makes Belle and Sebastian so special and enduring. It’s a band tackling age and growing older with grace, irreverence, musical bravado and lyrical exactitude and emerging as an endless source of energy and reinvention.

A Bit of Previous

Music GB

Discover A Bit of Previous by Belle and Sebastian. Limited edition vinyl, CD, and LP formats available. Matador label. A diverse and thrilling album with catchy melodies and poignant lyrics.