Album review
Belle and Sebastian have released a new single, ‘What Happened to You, Son?. It arrives ahead of North American tour, which kicks off April 23 in Atlanta. Listen below.
Discussing the new song, Stuart Murdoch said:
‘What Happened to You Son’ got pulled rather randomly from the last LP because the LP felt one track too long. Out it came.
The song is about my youth, and the funny hole I fell into in my late teens. I was failing at my university course, failing in almost everything I tried around then. I was obsessed with the music of the time, I used to hang so much on the lyrics and message and feeling of certain bands of the 80s era – it probably wasn’t healthy.
So although the theme of this song is a little accusatory, the fault is with the beholder. I could have switched off at any time. Instead I let the singers become my penpals and my deities.
The song tries to address what happens when the pop stars grow up, and change, and go a different way, and seem to betray the stance they held when you loved them the most.
The song finishes hopefully, however. There’s always a way forward, always a light to guide you if you look closely, if you give up part of yourself, if you let yourself flow and change.
Belle and Sebastian released their latest album, Late Developers, last year.
