Belle and Sebastian’s Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is a typical indie pop smorgasbord. Synthesizers and techno beats join the tepid voice of Stuart Murdoch, who is really at his best with simple guitar strums. There’s plenty of simple ennui for regular fans of the Glaswegian band, but their ninth studio album enters a new place of experimental percussion (“Perfect Couples”) and party-friendly beats (with the appropriately named “The Party Line”). With help from producer Ben H. Allen III, who has worked with the likes of Animal Collective, it’s not surprising that the band has taken a contemporary techno turn. Surprisingly enough, it’s not all that unpleasant.
“The Party Line” is exactly what it claims to be. It sounds much more like Phoenix or Foster the People than Belle and Sebastian, with a bouncy pop that begs repetitive radio plays. And this makes sense. After almost two decades in music with a relatively derivative, sedate sound, the band is adjusting to the modern indie clime while still trying to maintain the roots that make the sextet popular with its relatively small bundle of loyal followers.
Girls boasts a little bit of everything: folk, rock, techno, pop, and even a little bit of jazz (see the intro of “The Everlasting Muse”). Taking small steps away from their general association with English band The Smiths, Belle and Sebastian make their way across multiple genres in a few minutes, pulling out new instruments and disparate noises. “Perfect Couples” is all over the map, with the pitter patter of a Latin drum set joined by synthetic background vocals and the choked strums of an electric guitar. Charming, offbeat, but ultimately kind of awesome in an ’80s Squeeze sort of way.
Interspersed in the new are the familiar, quiet and cute sounds that we love, specifically with the tracks “Ever Had a Little Faith?” and “The Cat With the Cream” as well as single “Nobody’s Empire,” which arose from a bout of chronic fatigue, and for that contains a certain personal element for front man Murdoch.
Girls shows that Belle and Sebastian’s distinct little quirk of heartwarming simplicity has yet to lose its charm, while simultaneously revealing that it’s far from the only thing they have to offer.