After seven years away, Belle and Sebastian are back. The seven-piece indie rock group has announced their 10th album A Bit Of Previous, to be released on May 6 on Matador.

The first single, “Unnecessary Drama,” is out now alongside an accompanying music video. The video portrays the paradoxical feeling of the mind running at high speed amid the solitude of stay-at-home pandemic life. The bright colors, vintage-appearing clothing, and intricate sets bring an heir of familiarity to the video that will leave fans wanting more.

“The song is about a young person experimenting in being a human again after a forced hiatus,” frontman Stuart Murdoch said in a statement. “The person is weighing up whether or not it’s worth the mess! Still, you dip your toe in and it becomes delicious, and you get too much of it. Between trouble and nothing, we still choose the trouble.”

The album was recorded after the band’s plans to fly to Los Angeles in the spring of 2020 were thwarted by the pandemic. The album was produced and recorded by the band alongside contributions from Brian McNeill, Matt Wiggins, Kevin Burleigh and Shawn Everett.

“We did it together, us and the city,” Murdoch continued. “This record was the first ‘full’ LP recording for B&S in Glasgow since Fold Your Hands Child, 1999. We clocked in every morning, we played our songs, we wrote together, we tried new things, we took the proverbial lump of clay, and we threw it every day.”

In the last few years, Belle and Sebastian have had no shortage of projects on their plate. Their projects have included The Boaty Weekender– the band’s four-day Mediterranean cruise liner music festival; a soundtrack for the directorial debut of Simon Bird; a trilogy of EPs; a live album of current renditions of Belle and Sebastian classics, and their lockdown project “Protecting The Hive.”

Belle and Sebastian have announced a spring-summer US tour in support of the new album, alongside rescheduled UK and European tour dates for 2022 and 2023.

A Bit Of Previous Track List

1. Young And Stupid
2. If They’re Shooting At You
3. Talk To Me Talk To Me
4. Reclaim The Night
5. Do It For Your Country
6. Prophets On Hold
7. Unnecessary Drama
8. Come On Home
9. A World Without You
10. Deathbed Of My Dreams
11. Sea Of Sorrow
12. Working Boy In New York City

2022 Tour Dates:

May-24: Rabbit Rabbit, Asheville *

May-25: TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park, Indianapolis *

May-26: The Riviera Theatre, Chicago *

May-27: Palace Theatre, Minneapolis *

May-28: The Admiral, Omaha *

May-31: Paramount Theatre, Seattle +

Jun-1: Roseland Theater, Portland +

Jun-3: Greek Theatre, Berkeley %

Jun-4: Greek Theatre, LA %

Jun-5: Pappy and Harriet’s, Pioneertown +

Jun-7: The Van Buren, Phoenix +

Jun-8: The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing Company +

Jun-10: The Criterion, Oklahoma City +

Jun-11: Stubb’s Waller Creek, Austin #

Jun-13: Ryman Auditorium, Nashville #

Jun-14: Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh ^

Jun-15: Wolf Trap, Vienna ^

Jun-16: SummerStage, Central Park, NY #

Jun-17: Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia #

Jun-18: Roadrunner, Boston #

Jul-15 Bristol, UK Lloyds Amphitheatre, Bristol Harbourside

Jul-16 Stirling, UK Cardross Estate, Doune The Rabbit Hole

Nov-13 Cardiff, UK Great Hall – Student’s Union

Nov-14 London, UK The Roundhouse

Nov-15 London, UK The Roundhouse

Nov -17 Sheffield, UK O2 Academy Sheffield

Nov-18 Liverpool, UK Olympia

Nov -19 Hull, UK Asylum, Hull University Union

Nov-21 Aberdeen, UK Beach Ballroom

Nov-23 Edinburgh, UK Usher Hall

Nov-24 Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK O2 City Hall, Newcastle

Nov-25 Manchester, UK Manchester Academy

Nov-27 Cambridge, UK Corn Exchange

Nov-28 Birmingham, UK O2 Academy Birmingham

Nov-29 Southampton, UK O2 Guildhall Southampton

Nov-30 Brighton, UK Brighton Dome

* with Divino Niño

+ with Thee Sacred Souls

% with Tennis and Thee Sacred Souls

# with Los Bitchos

+ with Japanese Breakfast and Los Bitchos

2023 Tour Dates:

Jan-10 France, Paris, Casino de Paris

Jan-11 Holland, Utrecht, Tivoli Grote Zaal

Jan-14 Germany, Hamburg, Laeiszhalle

Jan-16 Sweden, Gothenburg Tradgarn

Jan-17 Sweden, Stockholm Filadelfia

Jan-18 Norway, Oslo Sentrum Scene

Jan-19 Denmark, Copenhagen Vega

Jan-21 Germany, Berlin Tempodrom

Jan-22 Germany, Munich Muffathalle

Jan-23 Switzerland, Zurich X-tra Limmathaus

Jan-25 France, Clermont-Ferrand, Co-op de Mai

Jan-26 Italy, Milan Fabrique

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