An alternative rock band from Glasgow has escaped many peoples’ musical knowledge. “Scottish, 90’s, emo” is how I describe Belle and Sebastian to my friends who are unfamiliar. The band, which features nobody named Belle or Sebastian, was formed in Scotland in the 1990s. Though they still make music today, their second album, If You’re Feeling Sinister, is one of their most famous records, with a sardonic wit to the lyrics that float over the warm melodies the band created.

Stuart Murdoch, the frontman of the band, wrote many of the lyrics for the album while experiencing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the late 1980s. Murdoch recalled that to get through his fatigue, he “leant on [songwriting], and it’s been [a] cathartic” way for him to distract himself. Murdoch’s dry humor clearly shows in the lyrics of the songs. In the opening song, “The Stars of Track And Field,” he sings of an acquaintance he once knew who left him behind to be a famous track star. “Could I write a requiem for you when you’re dead?”, he inquired of her in his lyrics, estimating that fame went to her head. Similarly, “Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying” is a sarcastic twist on the idea of heroism. “We don’t stand a chance!”, Murdoch sings: a message of hopelessness juxtaposed with the cheerful tone and melody of the song. The melodies on the album are mostly warm, which is often in stark contrast to the messages present in the songs.

I saw Belle and Sebastian in concert, at First Avenue, for their 2024 tour. The band sounded as good as ever and played several old hits, but Murdoch said that the song lyrics he had written as a younger person did not reflect who he wanted to be today. Yes, the lyrics are witty and insightful, but they also contain a thinly veiled bitterness that can quickly turn sour. Nobody exemplifies this better than Belle and Sebastian’s British neighbor, Morrissey, frontman of The Smiths, who has seemed to never outgrow his youthful angst and appears quite the curmudgeon today. Though the band doesn’t want to distance themselves from the music they once created, the message they send today is more positive. “It’s about spreading more love, having less hate in your heart,” Murdoch explained at the concert. Belle and Sebastian’s new perspective has served them well moving into the present, writing less “edgy” music while also retaining the spark of youth that first made them who they were.