Belle and Sebastian review, What to Look for in Summer: A rousing live album reminds us what we’re missing

Album’s sprawling tracklist is a testament to the band’s knack for consistency

Scottish indie pop group shines in live album (Will Byington)

The live album is a difficult beast. As The Independent’s critic Graeme Ross recently wrote, “a good live album should have a special aura around it, giving the listener the sensation of actually being present at a momentous event”. Belle and Sebastian have managed just that.  

In many ways, the indie-pop ensemble are the ideal candidates for a live record. Their back catalogue has both recognisable hits for casual listeners and more obscure fare beloved by diehard fans. They’re also renowned for their magnetic live performances – a rousing energy that they successfully translate on to the 23-track What to Look for in Summer.

Among the album’s most impressive achievements is how a song like 2017’s “We Were Beautiful” fits seamlessly alongside 1996’s indie jangle-pop track “Seeing Other People”. Belle and Sebastian are nothing if not consistent.

However, it's not surprising – given the album’s length – that there are dips. It’s surprising to see folky duet “Beyond the Sunrise”, one of the band’s most divisive songs, included here. Much less of a surprise is the appearance of “The Boy with the Arab Strap”, a seven-minute play that allows time for frontman Stuart Murdoch’s charming ad-libbing. “It’s Sunday night, no one wants to come up, do they?” he says, chiding his audience. “You’re all too sleepy!”

It’s probably the pandemic’s impact on the live music scene that makes an album like this feel more welcome than it might have last year. It’s still not comparable to the real thing, but it does remind us of what we’re missing.