Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch Previews New Film ‘God Help the Girl’
Belle and Sebastian honcho Stuart Murdoch’s first foray into the world of film, God Help the Girl, will see release in theaters and on-demand on September 5th. The movie tells the story of Eve, an aspiring songwriter who meets fellow musicians James and Cassie during her first summer in Glasgow. Murdoch wrote and directed the film, and has now released a clip in which the trio’s newly formed pop outfit performs one of Eve’s songs for the first time.
“This is the first time that the three friends get together with the other musicians,” Murdoch explains to Rolling Stone. “They are surprised and delighted with the sound of their new band. When Belle and Sebastian first came together, I felt the same way; lost in the amazing possibilities that a pop group presents. I wanted to get that feeling across in this clip.”
As for Murdoch’s other project, Belle and Sebastian are still working on their ninth studio LP, but the indie pop icons are set to reissue their currently out-of-print vinyl catalogue on October 5th via Matador.
The collection, with its wonderfully woebegone title, It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career, comprises seven studio LPs, from 1996’s Tigermilk to 2010’s Belle and Sebastian Write About Love (minus 2002’s Storytelling soundtrack), as well as two compilations, The Third Eye Centre and 2008’s BBC Sessions. Dear Catastrophe Waitress will also feature alternate artwork. More information about It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career is available at a special site dedicated to the collection.
The group have also released a teaser clip for their new album, which shows, in short bursts, shots of band members working on the record in Atlanta, getting haircuts and eating Southern food. The band recorded the as-yet-untitled album with producer Ben H. Allen and it’s slated for release on Matador next year. A handful of North American live dates have also been lined up this fall.
Murdoch spoke to Rolling Stone about the new album back in January, where he pointed out one of the new LP’s more peculiar points of inspiration: “This might seem a bit facetious, but we have this thing called Eurovision Song Contest. For example, Abba won in 1974, and that’s how they got their big break. And that was really the last great song from Eurovision. Since then, it’s been a train wreck, but it gives you a window into every little country, and it’s the only time that Europe gets together for this big party. I remember saying to the band, ‘I want to do an album that one song feels like it could be the Cyprus entry for 1974. And then next song would be the German entry for 1989.’ You might not see that in the finished songs, but somewhere that’s been an inspiration.”