| 90 |
Resonance
Their most intricate release to date: a breathtaking tapestry filled with more horns, string flourishes and beguiling melodies than a romantic heart can bear. [#26, p.50]
|
| 80 |
Almost Cool
This is by far their most polished and clean sounding album to date, as well as one that doesn't have the sort of immediately catchy tracks like on previous releases.
|
| 80 |
Billboard
Repeated spins also find this wonderful, soul-influenced collection to be one of slow, flowering appeal that ultimately ranks among the Glasgow septet's most rewarding efforts.
|
| 80 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
It makes good on Belle And Sebastian's urge for diversity while sticking to the transcendent pop that made its name.
|
| 80 |
Sonicnet
There's creepiness all over Fold Your Hands, from the deceptively sweet kiss-off "Don't Leave the Light on Baby" (RealAudio excerpt), and the raped narrator of "The Chalet Lines," to the self-conscious self-parody of "Nice Day for a Sulk"
|
| 80 |
New York Magazine
In a larger sense, the shock is that Belle and Sebastian have grown out of their awkward adolescence. And they sound all the more interesting for having done so in full view of their fans.
|
| 80 |
New Musical Express
Ultimately, despite all its self-defeating limitations and annoying, fey affectations, this remains a superb record.
|
| 80 |
CDNow
Still, the faithful wonder if it's the same Belle and Sebastian that gave them such fey, storied gems as Tigermilk and If You're Feeling Sinister. They can breathe easy now.
|
| 80 |
Magnet
It glides along with the same humid grace that made 1997's If You're Feeling Sinister a bedsit classic.... wonderful, sweeping songs. [#46, p.68]
|
| 80 |
Checkout.com
Make no mistake, the vibe here is strange and quirky -- the band's affinity for the naïve sometimes makes for an odd listening experience. But once you've settled into it, Peasant reveals itself to be a thing of beauty -- its nakedness comes to seem like the most natural thing in the world.
|
| 75 |
Entertainment Weekly
Belle and Sebastian now find themselves in the strange position of being neither naive nor fresh, and it shows on their awkward fourth album
|
| 70 |
Rolling Stone
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant embellishes on the coyly lavish arrangements of 1998's The Boy With the Arab Strap without forgetting to flex real heart muscles.
|
| 70 |
Spin
The record's nuances are divulged in layers and folds, through a latticework of instrumentation and, shockingly, some uncommonly good songwriting by band members other than Stuart Murdoch.
|
| 67 |
Pitchfork
There are some good songs on here, I guess, but they're not as good as anything from If You're Feeling Sinister, or even The Boy with the Arab Strap. It's weird, because the songs definitely sound better, but the album is still kind of disappointing.
|
| 60 |
Salon.com
Slow of tempo and devoid of the irony and insouciance that made Belle & Sebastian semi-famous among record store employees and their friends.
|
| 60 |
Spin Cycle
On its fourth full-length adventure, Glaswegian septet Belle & Sebastian wanders away from their painfully catchy melodies with symphonic '70s-esque feather rock.
|
| 60 |
Village Voice
Hand-clappable tunes and delicious cover design aside, sharp narrative-driven writing has been what saves the band from being merely annoying or silly or cute; too bad Fold Your Hands Child entirely abandons the vivid narrative vignette model.
|
| 60 |
L.A. Weekly
The group's lack of growth has begun to make their well-established talents wear thin.
|
| 60 |
Select
If some of 'Fold Your Hands' is marred by the curse of songwriting democracy and the faint sound of water being trodden,... at their best, Belle & Sebastian are still utterly unique, still utterly beguiling.
|
| 54 |
Wall of Sound
Scottish pop whizzes Belle and Sebastian have finally found a way to rid themselves of their onerous rep as critics' darlings: They've made an album that isn't very good.
|
| 50 |
All Music Guide
The problem is that the album is perhaps too subtle for its own good, and even after repeated listens, it fails to connect on any meaningful level
|
| 50 |
Mojo
Given time, fans will warm to Peasant, but ultimately the inconsistency of it's songwriting is a tad disappointing.
|
| 45 |
Nude As The News
Belle & Sebastian's formula is beginning to see some wear.
|
| 40 |
Q Magazine
The album lacks the breathless show-stoppers that have long peppered their records.
|
| 40 |
Trouser Press
Begins the band's slide into sonic monotony and lyrical malaise.
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