- Record Label: Matador/Jeepster
- Release Date: Jun 6, 2000
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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ResonanceTheir 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]
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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.
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It makes good on Belle And Sebastian's urge for diversity while sticking to the transcendent pop that made its name.
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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"
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Ultimately, despite all its self-defeating limitations and annoying, fey affectations, this remains a superb record.
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CDNowStill, 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.
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MagnetIt 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]
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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.
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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.
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Checkout.comMake 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.
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Belle and Sebastian now find themselves in the strange position of being neither naive nor fresh, and it shows on their awkward fourth album
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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.
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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.
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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.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 22 out of 26
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Mixed: 4 out of 26
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Negative: 0 out of 26
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GianniApr 24, 2008
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Dec 6, 2010
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GilbertMulroneycakesAndTheNewsDec 10, 2003