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May 16, 2022“If They’re Shooting at You,” “Deathbed of my Dreams,” “Do It for Your Country” and “Prophets On Hold” manifest as engaging and affecting ballads, sweetly suggestive and instantly engaging.
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May 6, 2022More than simply aging gracefully, A Bit of Previous suggests Belle and Sebastian still have enough hooks for several lifetimes.
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May 6, 2022‘A Bit of Previous’ remains an enjoyably sunny listen, even if one frequently inflected with melancholy.
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May 6, 2022A Bit of Previous stands alongside the earlier works as a cohesive full-band effort. This latest effort surely should be counted alongside B&S beloved classics If You’re Feeling Sinister and Tigermilk. It feels good to go home again.
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May 5, 2022All of the well-worn Belle and Sebastian hallmarks are present, but what’s truly impassive is how effortless it all sounds this time around.
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May 5, 2022It again boasts a plethora of instruments and will likely remind fans why Belle and Sebastian are so great at what they do.
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May 4, 2022While there are no surprises to be found on A Bit Of Previous – it’s pretty much a textbook example of how a Belle and Sebastian album should sound after 20 years – it’s a warm, comforting return for a band who do what they do extremely well.
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MojoMay 2, 2022Throughout, frontman Stuart Murdoch's succinct dramas are typically populated by vulnerable dreamers and seekers, some still Young And Stupid (the opening track), others a reflection of how his Christian beliefs embrace the tenets of Buddhism. [Jun 2022, p.87]
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UncutMay 2, 2022LP number nine features meditations on ageing: “Deathbed Of My Dreams” does it in a Nashville style; “Young And Stupid” does it like an early 1970s Eurovision entry. There’s also joyous self-affirmation. ... Best of all are “Prophets On Hold” and “Talk To Me Talk To Me”, AOR masterpieces that should have been on the last Abba album. J[Jun 2022, p.25]
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May 2, 2022It's in the album's unlikely combination of weighty sentiments and cheerful (if especially diverse) sounds that Belle and Sebastian grow, offering up an honest assessment of what getting older feels like when you're one of the world's best indie pop bands.
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May 6, 2022They’ve still got it: Murdoch’s droll reflections on youthful bliss are heightened by a flitting violin and a heavenly little bridge that flies high with a trumpet and Sarah Martin’s topline vocals.
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Rolling StoneJun 8, 2022They're still great at delivery wry prettiness. [Jun 2022, p.74]
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May 5, 2022A Bit of Previous is just that—an exercise in self-awareness by a band too intelligent to sell out, but certainly not impervious to the spell of nostalgia.
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May 3, 2022Belle and Sebastian aren't making a grand statement here; rather, more than seven years on from their last proper LP (2015's Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance), B&S are honing in on some of their signature styles and making an album that sounds quintessentially like themselves.
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May 2, 2022A Bit of Previous manages to strike a balance between celebrating the group’s familiar sound and proving that they still have something to say.