The problem when thinking about Belle & Sebastian's new one is exactly how to think of it. Do you consider it on its own terms, as three separate EPs released over as many months, or as one singular piece now that they're all out?
Bandleader Stuart Murdoch has made no bones about the fact that the dripping release schedule was not much more than a marketing gimmick, a way to sustain interest in these days of Spotified short attention spans. Even if the idea did pay homage to the trio of EPs the group put out between albums in their mid-90s heyday.
With 15 songs in total the project offers plenty of sonic variety as they cover familiar touch points and flirt with experimentation. There's smart, sophisticated indie-pop, elegant, wistful ballads, 60s pop throwbacks, a dalliance with breakbeats and flashes of groovy disco.
Each EP house a couple of gems, Part 1 opens with the 15-minute killer combo of Sweet Dew Lee's glittering disco and the wistful pop angst of We Were Beautiful. Part 2 offers the rollicking disco-funk of Cornflakes and the jangly duet The Same Star.
But the big guns come out on Poor Boy, the opening track of Part 3, a song propelled along by a slinky, ultra-funky disco bassline, a catchy chorus and a glorious middle section that swaps into throwback pop. It's one of the best songs Belle & Sebastian have ever written.
