While they may simultaneously delight and sadden tender souls everywhere, Scottish paltry popsters Belle And Sebastian fail to convince non-believers of their genius.

The opening four tracks here are whimsical odes to fictional wars and the girl next door famous for showing her chest, underpinned with Stuart Murdoch's annoyingly twee voice.

Far better comes when guitarist Stevie Jackson takes over lead vocals on 'The Wrong Girl', as the B&S string section steps up a gear and adds a sweeping majesty to a rather sweet tale of chasing love in all the wrong places.

The harrowing 'Chalet Lines' details stark images of juvenile rape and sexual abuse, and the track is made all the more disturbing by being sandwiched between 'The Wrong Girl' and the cute schmaltz of 'Nice Day for A Sulk'.

When Stuart sings "I can dance all night like a soul boy" on the closing 'There's Too Much Love', it is so sweet it makes you wish that he'd let a little more light in.

You can't deny their moments of fragile beauty, but too often this sounds contrived.