Some of rock’s greatest mavericks have crawled out of the back streets of Glasgow: think The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub and Belle Sebastian...
Stuart Murdoch’s alternative cult heroes haven’t released an album since Belle and Sebastian Write About Love back in 2010. In the meantime, Real Madrid’s Xavi Alonso revealed that he listened to the band on his headphones after beating Barcelona in El Clasico to effectively seal the La Liga title in 2012: the band, once associated with twee cardigan-wearing bookworms, have infiltrated the mainstream in their own subtle, inimitable and fascinating ways.
Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is a very Belle and Sebastian title, but it is their most expansive-sounding recording yet, encompassing disco, electro and even house. They haven’t made a dance record, but refined a vibrant pop sound that has evolved from the fey indie pop template since Dear Catastrophe Waitress in 2002. 
On the arresting opening track ‘Nobody’s Empire’, Murdoch addresses his chronic fatigue syndrome, singing “I clung to the bed and I clung to the past.” This is followed by the irresistible ‘Allie’ and the album peaks on the wonderful lead single ‘The Party Line’, an LCD Soundsystem flavoured tune that grows with every listen. On ‘The Power of Three’, they briefly descend into their old ways (it could be called ‘The Power of Twee’!) but they sparkle again on ‘Enter Sylvia Plath’ and ‘Play for Today’, with a guest slot from Dee Dee Penny of the Dum Dum Girls. Belle and Sebastian are back with bang. Roll on the Picnic.