Belle and Sebastian announce first studio album in seven years with lead single "Unnecessary Drama"

02 March 2022, 15:34 | Written by Cerys Kenneally

(News)

(Belle And Sebastian)

Belle and Sebastian have returned with news of their first studio album in seven years, A Bit Of Previous, and have released "Unnecessary Drama" as the first outing.

"Unnecessary Drama" is the group's first release since 2020's live album What to Look for in Summer, and is teamed with a video directed by Kasparas Vidunas and Eric J. Liddle.

Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch says of the single, "The song is about a young person experimenting in being a human again after a forced hiatus. The person is weighing up whether or not it’s worth the mess! Still, you dip your toe in and it becomes delicious, and you get too much of it. Between trouble and nothing, we still choose the trouble."

The new single will feature on Belle and Sebastian's forthcoming album A Bit Of Previous, which is their first studio album in seven years after 2015's Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance. The album was recorded in Glasgow after their LA plans were scrapped due to the pandemic.

In the linear notes, Murdoch said, "We did it together, us and the city. This record was the first ‘full’ LP recording for B&S in Glasgow since Fold Your Hands Child, 1999. We clocked in every morning, we played our songs, we wrote together, we tried new things, we took the proverbial lump of clay, and we threw it every day."

Tracklist:

Young And Stupid
If They're Shooting At You
Talk To Me Talk To Me
Reclaim The Night
Do It For Your Country
Prophets On Hold
Unnecessary Drama
Come On Home
A World Without You
Deathbed Of My Dreams
Sea Of Sorrow
Working Boy In New York City

"Unnecessary Drama" is out now. Belle and Sebastian's A Bit Of Previous album will arrive via Matador on 6 May, and is available to pre-order now. They'll play The Roundhouse in London on 14 and 15 November. Visit belleandsebastian.com for tickets.