Ahead of the launch of their coast-to-coast North American tour this month, Belle and Sebastian have released a brand new song, ‘What Happened to You, Son?’ Listen HERE.
Stuart Murdoch says on the song:
“‘What Happened to You, Son?’ got pulled rather randomly from the last LP because the LP felt one track too long. Out it came. The song is about my youth, and the funny hole I fell into in my late teens. I was failing at my university course, failing in almost everything I tried around then. I was obsessed with the music of the time, I used to hang so much on the lyrics and message and feeling of certain bands of the 80s era – it probably wasn’t healthy. So although the theme of this song is a little accusatory, the fault is with the beholder. I could have switched off at any time. Instead I let the singers become my penpals and my deities. The song tries to address what happens when the pop stars grow up, and change, and go a different way, and seem to betray the stance they held when you loved them the most. The song finishes hopefully, however. There’s always a way forward, always a light to guide you if you look closely, if you give up part of yourself, if you let yourself flow and change.”
On the 2nd and 3rd of August, the band will host a brand-new Bowlie event: ‘The Glasgow Weekender’. Held at Glasgow’s SWG3, the two-day concert series will include two headline B&S sets as well as performances by Camera Obscura, The Vaselines, CMAT, and many more. Day tickets are available at https://www.gigsinscotland.com/artist/belle--sebastian.
Full dates for the band’s first state-side dates in nearly two years, including festival and headline stops in New York, DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, and points between, with support along the way by Haley Heynderickx and The Weather Station, can be found below.
Last year, Belle and Sebastian released Late Developers, the second of two back-to-back albums following last year’s A Bit of Previous. It is a full-hearted embrace of the band's brightest tendencies that is not only fresh and immediate, but possessing that B&S je ne sais quoi – the feeling that the group will always be there for you with the perfect word or melody for the moment. “Like If You’re Feeling Sinister, this is a near-simultaneous follow-up that’s somehow even better than its acclaimed predecessor,” wrote Pitchfork.
TOUR DATES
Apr 23 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern #
Apr 24 – Richmond, VA @ The National #
Apr 26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer %
Apr 27 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre %
Apr 28 – Montreal, QC @ M Telus %
Apr 29 – Toronto, ON @ History %
May 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount %
May 2 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem %
May 3 – Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre %
May 4 – Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed %
May 6 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe #
May 7 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom #
May 8 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue #
May 10 – Denver, CO @ The Fillmore Auditorium %
May 11 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
May 13 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
May 14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
May 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel #
May 16 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater %
May 18 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall %
May 19 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre %
May 25 – Madrid, ES @ Tomavistas Festival
May 27 – Merignac, FR @ Le Krakatoa
May 28 – Paris, FR @ Salle Pleyel
June 7 – Berlin, DE @ Admiralspalast
June 8 – Hamburg, DE @ ELBJAZZ 2024
June 9 – Koln, DE @ Gloria-Theater
June 11 – Feyzin, FR @ L’Epicerie Moderne Feyzin
June 12 – Nimes, FR @ Paloma - Grande Salle
June 13 – Donostia, ES @ Kursaal
June 15 - Calvià, Spain @ Mallorca Live Festival
June 29 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
June 30 – Amsterdam, NL @ Amsterdam Bostheater
July 2 – Stockholm, SE @ Cirkus
July 3 - Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene
July 4 - Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
August 2 – Glasgow, UK @ The Glasgow Weekender
August 3 – Glasgow, UK @ The Glasgow Weekender
August 17 - Tokyo, JP @ Summer Sonic Festival
August 18 - Osaka, JP @ Summer Sonic Festival
# w/ Haley Heynderickx
% The Weather Station
Keep up to date with B&S happenings HERE
